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CORNELL STUDIES IN ENGLISH 

EDITED BY 

JOSEPH QUINCY ADAMS 

CLARK SUTHERLAND NORTHUP 

MARTIN WRIGHT SAMPSON 



GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY 
OF MILTON 



ALLAN H. GILBERT, Ph.D. 

INSTRUCTOR IN ENGLISH IN CORNELL UNIVERSITY 




NEW HAVEN 
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 

LONDON • HUMPHREY MILFORD • OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 

, MDCCCCXIX 






Copyright 1919 
By Yale University Press 

First published, April, 1919 



WIS 30 1919 e;cU52S.714 
Ito . J . 



Profuit et varies mores hominumque, locorumque 
Explorasse situs; multas terraque marique 
Aut videsse ipsum urbes, aut narrantibus illas 
Ex aliis novisse, et pictum in pariete mundum. 

(Vida, De Arte Poetica.) 



PREFACE 

In the present work I endeavor to furnish the basis for an 
understanding of Milton's use of geography. He gave that sub- 
ject an important place in his writings on education, and to it alone 
among the natural sciences he devoted a separate work — A Brief 
History of Moscovia and of Other Less-known Countries Lying East- 
ward of Russia as Far as Cathay; this is geographical rather than 
historical in the present sense of the word. In the poetry of 
Milton geography is rivaled in importance by none of the sciences 
except astronomy. Hence, a knowledge of Milton's geography 
is necessary to a full appreciation of his work. 

In a monograph originally intended as an introduction to this 
Dictionary, and now complete in manuscript, I have treated 
various matters relating to the poet's use of geography, such 
as the sources of his knowledge of the subject, his theory of its 
value in education, the function of place-names in his verse, and 
the cosmography of Paradise Lost. The publication of that 
work at the present time seems inadvisable; yet I hope without 
too long delay to publish it in a separate volume. 

In the Geographical Dictionary now presented, I have given 
in alphabetic order the place-names in Milton's prose and poetry 
(except the addresses of the Letters of State and the Biblical 
quotations in De Doctrina Christiana), and have endeavored so 
to explain these names, especially those occurring in the verse, as 
to reveal something of what they meant to the poet himself. To 
this end, I have drawn the quotations, so far as possible, from 
books he actually read.^ When this has been impossible, I have 
quoted from representative books accessible to him. 

Approximately the first half of the Dictionary was accepted 
as a doctoral dissertation by the Graduate Faculty of Cornell 
University in the year 1912. The subject was suggested by 
Professor Lane Cooper, of that faculty, and the work was done 
under his supervision; I wish to record here my gratitude for 
his assistance and encouragement. I desire also to thank the 

1 I have collected a considerable amount of evidence on Milton's use of 
books, which I hope later to make the basis of an inclusive work on the subject. 



viii PREFACE 

editors of the Cornell Studies in English, in particular Professor 
Joseph Q. Adams, for their aid in preparing the manuscript for 
publication. 

I trust that the work is sufficiently thorough and exact to 
be of service to students. However imperfect it may be, I 
believe that in purpose at least it would gain the approval of 
Milton himself, for in his youth he advised his fellows at Cam- 
bridge to travel — in their studies — "through the regions made 
famous by the narratives of illustrious poets": 

Et etiam illustrium poetarum fabulis nobilitatas regiones percurrere. 

Allan H. Gilbert 



ABBREVIATIONS 

I. MILTON'S WORKS 

Ad Rous. Ad Joannem Rousiiim. 

Ad Sal. Ad Salsillum Poetam Romanum. 

Album. An entry in an Autograph Album. (Masson, Life of 

Milton 1. 833.) 
Animadv. Animadversions upon the Remonstrant'' s Defense 

against Smectymnuus. 
Apology. Apology for Smectymnuus. 
Areopag. Areopagitica. 
Bucer: Divorce. The Judgment of Martin Bucer concerning 

Divorce. 
Carrier. On the University Carrier. 
Church-gov. The Reason of Church-government Urged against 

Prelaty. 
Circumcision. Upon the Circumcision. 
Civil Power. A Treatise of Civil Power in Ecclesiastical 

Causes. 
CoLAST. Colasterion. 
Commonplace. A Common-place Book of John Milton. (Ed. 

Alfred J. Horwood, The Camden Society, 1877.) 
Contra Hisp. Scriptum Dom. Protectoris Reipublicae Ang- 

liae . . . in quo hujus Reipublicae Causa contra Hispanos Justa 
' esse Demonstraretur. 
Cromwell. To the Lord General Cromwell. 
Cyriack. To Mr. Cyriack Skinner upon his Blindness. 
Damon. Epitaphium Damonis. 
Decl. Poland. A Declaration . . . for the Election of this 

Present King of Poland, John the Third. 

1 Defens. Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio. 

2 Defens. Defensio Secunda pro Populo Anglicano. 
Divorce. The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. 

1 



2 ABBREVIATIONS 

DocT. Christ. De Doctrina Christiana. (References to book 
and chapter, and to volume and page, of Sumner's trans., first 
and only separate edition.) 

Easy Way. The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free 
Commonwealth. 

Education. Of Education. 

EiKONOCL. Eikonoclastes. 

Eleg, Elegia. 

1 Eng. Let. Letter accompanying the sonnet On Arriving at 
the Age of Twenty-three. (Masson, Life of Milton I. 323-5.) 

2 Eng. Let. Letter to Bradshaw. (lb. 4. 478-9.) 
Episcopacy. Of Prelatical Episcopacy. 

Fairfax. On the Lord General Fairfax at the Siege of Col- 
chester. 

Forcers of Consc. On the New Forcers of Conscience under 
the Long Parliament. 

Grammar. Accedence Commenct Grammar. 

Hirelings. Considerations Touching the Likeliest Means to Re- 
move Hirelings out of the Church. 

Hist. Brit. The History of Britain, that Part Especially Now 
Called England. 

Idea Platon. De Idea Platonica Quemadmodum Aristoteles 
Intellexit. 

Il Pens. // Penseroso. 

Infant. On the Death of a Fair Infant. 

Kings & Mag. The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates. 

L'All. UAllegro. 

1-3 Leonor. Ad Leonoram Romce Canentem. (Three poems.) 

Lit. Oliv. Liter ce Oliverii Protectoris Nomine Scriptce. 

Lit. Rest. Parl. Literce, Richardo Abdicato, Restituti Parlia- 
menti Nomine Scriptce. 

Lit. Rich. Literce Richardi Protectoris Nomine Scriptce. 

Lit. Senat. Literce Senatus Anglicani. 

Logic. Artis Logicce Plenior Institutio. 

Marchioness. An Epitaph on the Marchioness of Winchester. 

Monk: Com. The Present Means and Brief Delineation of a 
Free Commonwealth . . . In a Letter to General Monk. 

Moscovia. a Brief History of Moscovia. 



ABBREVIATIONS 3 

MS. Subjects for Dramas from the Cambridge Manuscript. 
(Masson, Life of Milton 2. 106-15. Cf. the Facsimile of the 
Manuscript of Milton's Minor Poems, Cambridge, 1899.) 
Nativity. On the Morning of Christ's Nativity. 
Nat. Non. Naturam non Pati Senium. 
Notes: Arat. Annotations on Aratus. (Sotheby, Ramblings 

in the Elucidation of the Autograph of Milton, p. 105.) 
Notes: EuRiP. Annotations on Euripides, (/6., p. 108.) 
Notes: Grip. Brief Notes on a Late Sermon . . . Preached, 

and Since Published, by Matthew Griffith. 
Ormond. Observations on the Articles of Peace between James 

Earl of Ormond . . . and the Irish. 
Passion. The Passion. 

Petit. Council. Petition of John Milton, Gent., to the Council. 
(Hamilton, Original Papers Illustrative of the Life and Writings 
of John Milton, Camden Society, 1859.) 
Petit. Sequest. Petition of John Milton to the Commissioners 

for Sequestration. (lb.) 
P. L. Paradise Lost. 
P. R. Paradise Regained. 
Pr^sul. El. In Obitum Prcesulis Eliensis. 
Procancel. In Obitum Procancellarii Medici. 
1-4 Prod. Bomb. InProditionemBombardicam. (Four poems.) 
1-8 Prolus. Auctoris Prolusiones Qucedam Oratorice. 
Pro Se Defens. Auctoris pro Se Defensio contra Alexandrum 

Morum. 
Ps. Psalm. (Translated by Milton.) 
Quint. Nov. In Quintum Novembris. 
Rami Vita. Petri Rami Vita . . . Descripta. 
Reformation. Of Reformation Touching Church Discipline in 

■ England. 
Respons. a uthoris ad A lexandri Mori Supplementum Responsio. 
Rupt. Com. A Letter to a Friend concerning the Ruptures of the 

Commonwealth. 
Safe-cond. a Letter of Safe-conduct to the Count of Oldenburg. 

(Thurloe, State Papers 1. 385-6.) 
Samson. Samson Agonistes. 
Shakesp. On Shakespear. 

Sixteen Let. Sixteen Letters of State . . . Now First Published. 
(Hamilton, Original Papers Illustrative of the Life and Writings 
of John Milton, Camden Society, 1859.) 



4 ABBREVIATIONS 

Tetrach. Tetrachordon. 

True Relig. Of True Religion, Heresie, Schism, Toleration, 

and What Best Means May Be Us'd against the Growth of 

Popery. 
Vacat. Ex. At a Vacation Exercise in the Colledge. 
Vane. To Sir Henry Vane the Younger. 

II. WORKS BY AUTHORS OTHER THAN MILTON 

Adrichomius. Christianus Adrichomius, Theatrum Terrce Sanctce 
et Bihlicarum Historiarum cum Tabulis Geographicis, Delft, 
1628. 

Bede. Bede, Ecclesiastical History of Engla?id, trans. A. M. 
Sellar, London, 1907. 

Blaeu. America, Qucb Est Geographice Blaviana Pars Quinta, 
Amsterdam, 1662. 

BocHART. Samuel Bochart, Geographia Sacra, Frankfort-on- 
the-Maine, 1674 (first ed. 1646). 

Camden. William Camden, Britannia, London, 1789, trans. 
R. Cough from ed. of 1607. 

Chronicle. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in Two of the Saxon 
Chronicles Parallel, Earle and Plummer, Oxford, 1892-9. 

Davity. Pierre Davity, Les Estats . . . du Monde, Rouen, 1625. 

DiODORUS. Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, trans. G. 
Booth, London, 1814 (but references in the present work are 
to the usual divisions of the Greek text). 

DiONYsius Periegetes. Dionysii Orbis Descriptio, in Miiller, 
Geographi Grceci Minores, Paris, 1861. 

Fuller. Thomas Fuller, A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, London, 
1651, reprinted 1869. 

Hak. Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, 
Traffigues and Discoveries of the English Nation, London, 
1598-1600, reprinted, Glasgow, 1903. (References in the 
present work are to volume and page of the first edition, 
indicated in the reprint by marginal figures.) 

Leo Africanus. Leo Africanus, The History and Description of 
Africa, trans. Pory, London, 1600, reprinted 1896. 

Mercator. Gerhard Mercator, Atlas (French text), Amster- 
dam, 1628. 

Ortelius. Abraham Ortelius, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Ant- 
werp, 1592. 



ABBREVIATIONS 5 

Phillips. Edward Phillips, Life of Milton, in Of Education, 
... by John Milton, ed. Laura E. Lockwood, Riverside Lit- 
erature Series. 

Pilgrimage. Purchas his Pilgrimage, second ed., London, 1617. 

PiLGRiMES. Purchas his Pilgrimes, London, 1625, reprinted 
Glasgow, 1905-7. (References in the present work are to 
volume and page of the first edition, indicated in the reprint 
by marginal figures.) 

Sandys. George Sandys, Travels, seventh edition, London,. 1673. 

Simeon of Durham. Historia Regum, London, 1885. 

Stow. John Stow, Survey of London, London, 1603, reprinted, 
Oxford, 1908. 

Two Chr. See Chronicle, supra. 

TRANSLATIONS QUOTED 

(other than those mentioned in the preceding list) 

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, tr. Edward P. Coleridge, 

London, 1889. 
Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, tr. Sir John Harington, London, 1607. 
Asser, Life of King Alfred, tr. Albert S. Cook, Boston, 1906. 
Euripides, Tragedies, tr. Arthur S. Way, London, 1894. 
Herodotus, History, tr. G. C. Macaulay, London, 1904. 
Homer, Odyssey, tr. S. H. Butcher and A. Lang, New York, 1906. 
Josephus, Works, Whiston's Translation, ed. The Rev. A, R. 

Shilleto, London, 1889. 
LucAN, Pharsalia, tr. Edward Ridley, London, 1896. 
Ovid, Metamorphoses, tr. Arthur Golding, London, 1567, facsimile 

reprint, 1904. 
Pindar, Odes, tr. Ernest Myers, London, 1904. 
Plato, Works, tr. B. Jowett, London, 1892. 
Pliny, Natural History, tr. Philemon Holland, London, 1601. 
Plutarch, Lives, the Translation Called Dryden's, revised by A. 

H. Clough, Boston, 1891. 
Polo, Marco, Travels, tr. Colonel Henry Yule, London, 1903. 
Sophocles, Tragedies, tr. Sir Richard Jebb, Cambridge, 1905. 
SozoMENUS, Church History, tr. Hartranft, New York, 1890. 
Strabo, Geography, Books 1 and 2 tr. Horace L. Jones, London, 

1917; Books 3 fT., with some exceptions, trans. Hamilton and 

Falconer, London, 1892-3. 
Virgil, Works, tr. Lonsdale and Lee, London, 1903. 



In this Dictionary all of Milton's references to one place, without regard 
to any variations in the name or names used, are brought together under 
one form. For example, all references to Anglia appear under England, 
and Anglia and other equivalent forms used by Milton are given in 
parenthesis. In their alphabetical positions in the Dictionary these variants 
appear with cross-references only. Proper adjectives which would obvi- 
ously be sought under nouns are often omitted from the alphabetical list. 
Forms of place-names now common, but not used by Milton, are given with 
cross-references to the Miltonic forms. For the poems, references are made to 
The Poetical Works of John Milton, Edited after the Original Texts, by H. C. 
Beeching, Oxford University Press. For the prose, references are made, so 
far as possible, to the volume and page of The Works of John Milton . . . 
Printed from the Original Editions, published by William Pickering, London, 
1851; exceptions are indicated in the List of Abbreviations. In order to 
facilitate the use of other editions of the prose, I give, within marks of paren- 
thesis, references to the sections of such works as are commonly divided into 
parts. For example, "Reformation (2) 3.38" is a reference to Reformation, 
chapter 2, found in the Pickering edition, volume 3, page 38; "Tetrach. 
(Gen. 1. 28) 4.263" refers to the section of Tetrachordon dealing with Genesis 
1. 28, and to volume 4, page 263, of the Pickering edition; "Lit. Oliv. (57) 
7. 306" refers to the fifty-seventh letter of the LitercB Oliverii Protectoris, 
volume 7, page 306, of the Pickering edition. These and other letters, and 
the Prolusiones, have been numbered as they stand in that edition. 



A 

GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY 

OF MILTON 

Abana. See Abbana. 

Abarim. P. L. 1. 408. (See also Aroer.) 

The name, meaning "the parts beyond," given to the plateau 
east of the Dead Sea, as seen from western Palestine, from whence 
the western cliffs of the plateau present the appearance of a 
chain of mountains. In Milton's day this was not understood; 
Fuller, for example, describes Abarim thus: "Let us now request 
the reader to climb up the hills of Abarim, Nebo, and Pisgah. 
These are a ledge of mountains rising by degrees from east to 
west, so that some have compared Abarim to the chancel, Nebo 
to the church, and Pisgah to the steeple." (P. 70.) Milton, 
however, probably had in mind Ije-Abarim ("the heaps of 
Abarim") which appears on Fuller's maps at the eastern extre- 
mity of the chain, in harmony with Numbers 21. 11: "They 
pitched at Ije-Abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, 
toward the sunrising." Adrichomius, on the other hand, repre- 
sents "Jeabarim" as on the southern border of Moab (cf. Num- 
bers 33. 44), far from the mountains of Abarim, as he represents 
them, and in the desert. (P. 126, map.) This is in harmony 
with Milton's "the wild of southmost Abarim." Nothing is 
known of Ije-Abarim in addition to what is told in the passages of 
Scripture mentioned above. 

Abassin. See Negus. 

Abbana. P. L. 1. 469. (See also Damascus, Pharpar.) 

Commonly Abana, a small river rising in the Anti-Lebanons 
which waters the city of Damascus. Naaman the Syrian men- 
tions it in 2 Kings 5. 12: "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of 
Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not 
wash in them and be clean?" With Milton's "lucid streams" 
cf. Ariosto's "fiumi cristallini." (Orlando Furioso 17. 19.) 
2 7 



8 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Abra. See Humber. 

Abyssinia. See Negus, Empire of. 

Academe. Eleg. 7. 107; Idea Platon. 35; P. R. 4. 244. 

The Academy was one of the suburbs of ancient Athens, 
northwest of the city. In the garden there Plato and his suc- 
cessors taught. The spot was in ancient times celebrated for its 
beauty. Plutarch says of Cimon: "The Academy, which was 
before a bare, dry, and dirty spot, he converted into a well- 
watered grove, with shady alleys to walk in." (3. 217.) Aristo- 
phanes mentions the olive-trees which grew in the Academy. 
{Clouds 1005.) 

Academy. See Academe. 

Accaron (Ecron). P. L. 1. 466; Samson 981. 

Ekron (Vulgate, Accaron) was the most northern of the five 
cities of the Philistines (1 Samuel 6. 17), about twenty -five miles 
west of Jerusalem. As was usual in the time of Milton, Fuller 
places it on the coast. (P. 202.) Beelzebub is the god espe- 
cially assigned to Ekron by the Bible (2 Kings 1. 1-6), as Milton 
doubtless remembered when he wrote that Beelzebub was "long 
after known in Palestine." (P. L. 1. 80.) 

Achaemenius. See Persia. 

Achelous. 3 Leonor. 2; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 8. 

The name of three rivers in Greece, the most famous of which 
is in Acarnania. 

Acheron. Quint. Nov. 7, 72; Comus 604; P. L. 2. 578; Hist. 

Brit. (1) 5. 8. 

The name of two rivers in Greece, one in Elia (Strabo 8. 3. 15), 
and one in Epirus (/&. 7. 7. 5), both of which were believed to 
communicate with the Lower Regions. Cf. Mneid 6. 295. 

Actaeus. See Attick. 

Addlegate. Colast. 4. 370. (See also Algate.) 

A name coined by Milton on the analogy of Algate as a thrust 
at an opponent whom he considered a dunce. 

Adiabene. P. R. 3. 320. 

A district in Assyria. Strabo refers to it as one of " the plains 
about Nineveh" (16. 1. 1), and adds: "We have said that Media 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 9 

and Armenia lie to the north, and Adiabene and Mesopotamia 
to the west of Babylonia. The greatest part of Adiabene con- 
sists of plains." (16. 1. 18, 19.) 

Adonis. P. L. 1. 450. 

The modern Nahr Ibrahim, a river rising in the Lebanons and 
flowing into the Mediterranean south of Djebail, the ancient 
Byblos. Milton refers to the ancient belief that on one day 
annually the river flowed red with the blood of Adonis, beloved 
of Venus, who had been killed by a boar on Mount Lebanon. 
Lucian tells the story, and explains that the river really was 
colored with dust carried by the winds. {De Dea Syr. 6-8.) 
The modern explanation is that the river gets its red color from 
the earth at time of high water. 

Adonis, Garden of. Comus 999; P. L. 9. 440; 2 Defens. 6. 257. 

(See also Alcinous, Hesperian, Solomon.) 

The garden of Adonis apparently belongs to post-classical 
mythology, the only classical reference being the following in 
Pliny: "Ab his superest reverti ad hortorum curam et suapte 
natura memorandum et quoniam antiquitas nihil prius mirata 
est, quam Hesperidum hortos ac regum Adonidis et Alcinoi 
itemque pensiles, sive illos Semiramis sive Assyrise rex Syrus 
fecit." (19. 4.) Milton may have gained from Pliny his idea 
of associating the garden of Adonis with that of Alcinous and 
that of the Hesperides. Jonson associates it with the gardens 
of the Hesperides, the Insulae Fortunatae, and Tempe. {Every 
Man Old of his Humor 4. 6.) Milton's identification of the gar- 
den of Adonis with that of the Hesperides in Comus was an 
afterthought, for in the Cambridge MS. "Adonis" is substituted 
for an earlier "cherub." In this identification he does not fol- 
low Spenser, who writes : 

Whether in Paphos, or Cytheron hill, 

Or it in Gnidus be, I wote not well; 

But well I wote by tryall, that this same 

All other pleasant places doth excel!, 

And called is by her lost lovers name, 

The Gardin of Adonis, farre renowmd by fame. {F. Q. 3. 6. 29.) 

Spenser's elaborate description is doubtless Milton's chief source, 
and is the most important account of the garden known. The 



10 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

anonymous author of the Libellns Observatiomim at the end of the 
Mythologia of Natalis Comes (ed. 1651) mentions the garden of the 
Hesperides and that of Adonis, and says that the belief in them 
was founded on vague knowledge of the garden of Eden, and that 
the King Adonis mentioned by Pliny was really Adam. In the 
Mythologia itself we read: "In his sacrificiis fructus cuiusuis 
generis adhibebantur . . . consueverunt praetereaet hordedum 
et triticum serere in locis suburbanis, atque ea loca in quibus 
haec sata fuissent, multaeque essent fructiferae arbores, hortos 
Adonios appellare; quia locis hujusmodi Adonis delectaretur," 
(5. 16.) Bentley omitted the reference to the garden of Adonis 
from his edition of Paradise Lost because there never had been 
such a garden. A controversy on the subject is reviewed in 
Steevens' edition of Johnson's Shakespeare in the note on 1 Henry 
VI 1. 6. 6. Fletcher probably had Spenser in mind when he 
wrote : 

Adonis garden was to this but vayne, 
' Though Plato on his beds a flood of praise did rayne. 

{Christ's Victorie on Earth 40. 7-8.) 

He could hardly have been familiar with the passage in Plato 
(Phcedrus 276 b), for it is but a brief incidental reference, not 
to a real garden, such as we have been discussing, but to the 
little vessels in which plants were forced so that they sprang 
up in eight days for the festival of Adonis. Some account of 
these gardens is the source of Shakespeare's reference : 

Thy promises are like Adonis' gardens, 

That one day bloom'd and fruitful were the next. 

(i Henry VI I. 6. 6-1) 

The ritualistic gardens of Adonis are discussed by Frazer, 
Golden Bough, part 4, bk. 1, chap. 10. 

Adria (Adriatic). P. L. 1. 520; 3 Prolus. 7. 429; Hist. Brit. 

(1)5. 11. 

The Adriatic Sea. The "sestuantem Adriam" of the Pro- 
lusion suggests the epithets of Horace, for example : 

Fractisque rauci fluctibus Hadrise. {Odes 2. 14. 14.) 

Adriatic. See Adria. 
JEssa. See Circe's Hand. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 11 

-^gaeus. See ^gean. 

^gean (/Egjeus). Nat. Non 23; P. L. 1. 746; P. R. 4. 238. 
The /Egean Sea. 

^gelands. Moscovia (5) 8. 503. 

The islands on the coast of the province of Helgeland, Norway. 
Milton's account of them is from the following: "The land was 
all full of little Islands, and that innumerable, which were called, 
as we learned afterwards, iEgeland and Halgeland, which lieth 
from Orfordnesse North and by East, being in the latitude of 
66 degrees." (Hak. 1. 235.) 

^gypt. See Egypt. 

.ffimathia. See Macedon. 

.^mathia Urbs. See Philippi. 

^milian Road. P. R. 4. 69. 

The Roman military highway from Placentia to Arimlnium, 
where it joined the Flaminian road. See Livy 39. 2. 

^non. P. R. 2. 21. 

A place in Palestine, near the River Jordan, where John 
baptised. (John 3. 23.) Fuller places it on the western bank 
of the river. (P. 159, map.) 

.^thiops. See Ethiop. 

.ffitna. Procancel. 46; Quint. Nov. 36; Ad. Patrem 49; P. L. 1. 
233; 3.470; 1 Prolus. 7. 413; 3 Prolus. 7. 429; 7 Prolus. 7. 450. 
Milton's suggestion in 3 Prolus. that his hearers should visit 
/Etna calls to mind his own desire to visit Sicily (2 Defens. 6. 288), 
where ^Etna probably was one of the sights he wished to see. 
In Procancel. 46 he uses "^tnaeus" to mean Sicilian. JEtm. 
has frequently been described in poetry; for example, Lucretius 
6. 640-703, Pindar, Pyth. 1, and the Latin poem entitled Mtna. 
Milton's reference in P. L. 3. 470 is almost a translation from 
Horace : 

Deus immortalis haberi 
Dum cupit Empedocles, ardentem frigidus ^tnam 
Insiluit. {Ars Poetica 464-6.) 

Afene. See 1. Avon. 



12 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Africa. Comus 606; Vane 4; P. L. 1. 585; P. R. 2. 199, 347; 

Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 11; Decl. Poland 8. 463. 

Sometimes the continent of Africa, and sometimes the Roman 
province of Africa, corresponding to the modern Tunisia. In 
P. R. 2. 347 Milton refers to the fisheries on the coast of Africa, 
made well-known by the story of the Roman glutton Apicius, 
whom he mentions in 7 Proliis. 7. 451. An ultimate source for 
the reference to the monsters of Africa in Comns 606 is perhaps 
Diodorus 3. 50. The idea appears in Fairfax's Tasso: 

All monsters which hot Africke doth forthsend 
Twixt Nilus, Atlas, and the southern Cape, 
Were ail there met. (15. 51.) 

Compare also, e. g., Ben Jonson, Vision on the Muses of his 
Friend M. Drayton, Donne, Satyre 4. 22, and Camoens, Lm- 
siads 10. 92. African harpies are mentioned in the Orlando Fu- 
rioso 33. 111. For similar phenomena in the desert of Gobi 
see Sericana. 

Agatha. Tetrach. (Fath.) 4. 268; (Canon) 4. 282. 

Agde (Latin, Agatha) is a town ninety miles west of Marseilles 
on the Mediterranean. 

Agde. See Agatha. 

Agned. See Edinburgh. 

Agra. P. L. 11. 391. 

A city in northwestern India, formerly one of the capitals of 
the Great Mogul. The following descriptions are found in 
Purchas: "Agra, a principall and great Kingdome, the Citie so 
called, the heart of the Mogolls Territorie, in North latitude 
about twentie eight degrees and an halfe. It lyeth most on the 
Southwest side of Jemvi, the Citie upon the River, where one of 
the Emperours Treasureries are kept. From Agra to Lahor, 
which is not lesse than seven hundred miles, it is all a plaine, 
and the highway planted on both sides with trees like a delicate 
walke. It is one of the great workes and wonders of the World." 
(Pilgrimes 1. 579.) "Agra is spacious, large, populous beyond 
measure, that you can hardly passe in the streets. . . . Upon 
the banke of the River stands the Castle, one of the fairest and 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 13 

admirablest buildings of the East, some three or foure miles in 
compasse, inclosed with a faire and strong wall of squared stone. 
. . . King Acabars Sepulchre is 3 C. distant from Agra in the 
way to Lahor, nothing neere finished as yet, after tenne yeares 
worke. It is placed in the midst of a faire and large Garden, 
inclosed with brick walls, neere two miles in circuit; is to have 
foure Gates (but one of which is yet in hand) each, if answerable 
to this foundation, able to receive a great Prince with a reason- 
able traine. ... In the Center of this Garden stands the Tombe 
foure square, about three quarters of a mile in compasse. The 
first inclosure is with a curious rayle, to which you ascend some 
six steps into a small square Garden quartered in curious Tankes, 
planted with variety of sweets, adjoyning to which is the Tombe, 
rounded with this gardenet, being also foure square, all of hewne 
stone, with faire spacious Galleries on each side, having at each 
corner a small beautifull Turret, arched over head, and covered 
with various Marble. Betwixt corner and corner are four other 
Turrets at like distance. Here within a faire round coffin of 
Gold lieth the body of this Monarch, who sometimes thought the 
World too little for him. ... At my last sight thereof, there 
was only over head a rich Tent, with a Semaine over the Tombe. 
But it is to be inarched over with the most curious white and 
speckled Marble, and to be seeled all within with pure sheet- 
Gold richly inwrought. These foure last Turrets also inclosing 
the Sepulchre are of most rich curious Marble, and the ground 
underfoot paved with the like." {Ih. 1. 440.) 

Aialon. P.,L. 12. 266. 

A broad valley of the Shephelah, Palestine, about fourteen 
miles west from Jerusalem. See Joshua 10. 

Ailsbury. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 217. 

A town in the Vale of Ailsbury, Buckinghamshire. 

Ailsford. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 116. 
A town in Kent, on the Medway. 

Akalon. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 8. 

An unidentified river of Greece, mentioned by Geofifrey of 
Monmouth 1.5. 

Ak-lea (Oak-lea). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 193. 

Ockley in Surrey, on the River Mole. (Camden 1. 168.) 



14 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Aladule, Realm of. P. L. 10. 435. (See also Bactrian.) 

The mountainous country of Armenia. Purchas remarks of 
it : " Betweene Orpha and Caramit was the Paradise of Aladeules, 
where he had a fortresse destroyed by Sehm. This his Paradise 
was hke to that which you shall find in our Persian Historie. 
Men by a potion brought into a sleep were brought into this 
supposed Paradise, where at their waking they were presented 
with all sensuall pleasures of musike, damosels, dainties, etc., 
which, having had some taste of another sleepie drinke, after 
came againe to themselves. And then did Aladeules tell them 
that he could bring them when he pleased to Paradise, the place 
where they had beene, and if they would commit such murders 
or haughty attempts, it should be theirs. A dangerous device. 
Zelim the Turke destroyed the place." (Pilgrimage, p. 75.) 
Heylyn mentions the stout resistance of King Aladeules against 
the Turks. (Cosmography 3. 14:1.) 

Alaunus. Damon. 175. 

The united mouth of the Stour and the Avon, flowing into 
the Solent, Hampshire. (Camden 1. 115.) 

Alba Julia. Rami Vita 7. 185. 

Wissenburg, in Transylvania on the River Marosch. 

Albania. See Scotland. 

Albany. See Scotland. 

Albion. See Britain. 

Albracca. P. R. 3. 339. 

A fortress of Cathay, the siege of which is related by Boiardo 
in the Orlando Innamorato 1. 10 ff. With Milton's reference to 
the numbers at Albracca compare: "We shall see more armed 
Knights than were at the siege of Albracca, to conquer Angelica 
the faire." (Don Quixote, trans. Shelton, 2.2.) 

Alcairo. See Memphis. 

Alcinous, Garden of. Eleg. 3. 44; P. L. 5. 341; 9. 441; 2 De- 
fens. 6. 257. (See also Adonis, Garden of.) 
Alcinous, king of the Pha?acians, had near his palace a garden 
described by Homer as follows: "Hard by the door is a great 
garden, of four ploughgates, and a hedge runs round on either 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 15 

side. And there grow tall trees blossoming, pear-trees and 
pomegranates, and apple-trees with bright fruit, and sweet figs, 
and olives in their bloom. The fruit of these trees never perisheth 
neither faileth, winter nor summer, enduring throughout all the 
year. Evermore the West Wind blowing brings some fruit to 
birth and ripens others. Pear upon pear waxes old, and apple 
on apple, yea and cluster ripens upon cluster of the grape, and 
fig upon fig. There too hath he a fruitful vineyard planted, 
whereof the one part is being dried by the heat, a sunny plot on 
level ground, while other grapes men are gathering, and yet 
others they are treading in the wine-press. In the foremost row 
are unripe grapes that cast the blossom, and others there be that 
are growing black to vintaging. There too, skirting the furthest 
line, are all manner of garden beds, planted trimly, that are 
perpetually fresh, and therein are two fountains of water, 
whereof one scatters his streams all about the garden." 
{Odyssey 7. 112-30.) 

Alclud. See Edinburgh. 

Alcluith. See Dunbritton. 

Aldgate. See Algate. 

Aldra. See Aulre. 

Aleian Field. P. L. 7. 19. 

The field near Ale in Lycia where Bellerophon wandered and 
perished, after he "came to be hated of all the gods." {Iliad 
6. 200.) 

Alexandria. Reformation (2) 3. 38; Church-gov. (1. Pref.) 3. 96; 

Tetrach. (Fath.) 4. 263; Education 4. 390; Areopag. 4. 413; 

1 Defens. (2) 6. 32; (4) 6. 90; Lit. Oliv. (57) 7. 306. 

A city of Egypt at the northwest extremity of the Delta, in 
ancient times "judged by most to be the second if not the first 
city of the whole world." (Diodorus 1. 50.) 

Algate. Colast. 4. 370. (See also Addlegate.) 

Commonly Aldgate, a gate in the east part of the wall of 
London, which gave its name to the adjacent ward. 



16 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Algiers (Arglers). P. L. 11. 404; Eikonocl. (27) 3. 508. (See 

also Almansor.) 

A country of North Africa, between Tunisia on the east and 
Morocco on the west. Its chief city is a seaport of the same 
name, described by Leo Africanus as follows: "It is a large 
towne, containing families to the number of fower thousand, and 
is environed with most stately and impregnable walles. The 
buildings thereof are very artificial and sumptuous, and every 
trade and occupation hath here a severall place. Innes, bath- 
stoves, and temples here are very beautifull, but the stateliest 
temple of all standeth upon the sea-shore. Next unto the sea 
there is a most pleasant walke upon that part of the town wall 
which the waves beat upon. In the suburbs are many gardens 
replenished with all kind of fruits." (P. 682.) 

Allen. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 106. (See also Maes German.) 

A river, tributary to the Dee, which waters the southern part 
of Flintshire. 

Allobroges. See Sabaudia. 

Almansor, Kingdoms of. P. L. 11. 403. (See also Algiers, 
Bocchus (Realm of), Fez, Marocco, Sus, Tremisen.) 

Almanzor, or Mansur (939-1002), was a Mohammedan, ruler 
of Andalusia and North Africa, of whom Leo Africanus says: 
"Certaine it is that the foresaid Mansor, whom we have so 
often mentioned, was a most puissant and mightie prince, for it 
is well known that his dominion stretched from the town of 
Messa to the kingdome of Tripolis in Barbary, which is the most 
excellent region of Africa, and so large that a man can hardly 
travell the length thereof in fourescore and ten dales, or the 
bredth in fifteen. This Mansor likewise was in times past Lord 
of all the kingdome of Granada in Spaine." (P. 270.) Ariosto 
gives a survey of North Africa as seen by Astolfo on an aerial 
journey. {Orlando Funoso 32>. 99-100.) 

Almany. See Germany. 

Alney (Olanege). Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 260. (See also Deorhurst.) 
In putting the island of Alney in the River Severn near Deor- 
hurst, Milton follows Camden (1. 261), to whom he refers in a 
note. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 17 

Alpheus. Arcades 30; Lycidas 132. (See also Arethuse.) 

A river rising in Arcadia, and flowing past Olympia into the 
Ionic Sea. It more than once disappears in caverns in the lime- 
stone, and flows underground for a space. Virgil gives the fable 
of the Alpheus as follows: "Stretched in front of the Sicanian bay 
lies an island; . . . men called the place of old Ortygia. Fame 
says that hither Alpheus, river of Elis, forced his hidden way 
beneath the sea, who now through the mouth of thy fountain, 
Arethusa, mingles with the waves of Sicily." (yEneid 3. 692-6.) 

Alpinag Valles. See Alps. 
Alpine Mountains. See Alps. 

Alps (Alpinae Valles, Alpine Mountains). Sonnet 15.2; Quint. 

Nov. 48; Damon. 114; P. L. 2. 620; Samson 628; Church- 

gov. (2. Pref.) 3. 144; Tetrach. (Gen. 2. 18) 4. 158; Hist. 

Brit. (2) 5. 47, 85; (5) 5. 227, 231; 2 Defens. 6. 289; Lit. Oliv. 

(9) 7. 248; (11) 7. 250; (15) 7. 255; (32) 7. 276; (36) 7. 282; 

(44) 7. 293; (69) 7. 320; Contra Hisp. 7. 367; Epist. Fam. 

(8) 7. 381; Moscovia (3) 8. 485; Sixteen Let. 1, 16. 

In his return from Italy Milton crossed the Pennine Alps. 
(2 Defens. 6. 289.) These lie between Haute Savoie and Wallis 
on one side, and Turin and Novara on the other, and include 
Mont Blanc. Masson thinks Milton may have gone by the 
Pass of Great Saint Bernard. (Life of Milton 1. 831.) Possibly 
Milton's reference to the disease of goitre, common among 
"those in Italy that live under the Alps" (Moscovia (3) 8. 485), 
is the result of observation. However, it has long been the sub- 
ject of rernark (e. g. Juvenal 13. 162). In his poetry Milton never 
refers to the Alps without using some adjective such as "cold," 
or "snowy." His reference in TetracJwrdon is ultimately based 
on the story in Livy (21. 37) how Hannibal softened the rocks 
of the Alps with vinegar, in order to cut them away in making a 
road for his army. The "Alpine Mountains" of Sonnet 15, 
and the "Alpine Valleys" of the Letters of State refer to the 
dwellings of the Waldenses in high valleys in Piedmont. "Alp" 
(P. L. 2. 620; Samson 628) is a common noun meaning mountain. 

Alteen (Alty). Moscovia (3) 8. 485, 486 (twice). (See also 

Tooma.) 

The part of Siberia near the headwaters of the River Ob. 
The passage of the Pilgrimes to which Milton refers in a note 



18 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

describes it as ten and a half days' journey beyond "Tomo, a 
new castle beyond Ob," on the way to Cathay. (3. 798.) 

Alty. See Alteen. 

Alvetheli. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 192. 

Apparently in Northumbria. The battle there is described 
by Roger of Wendover. (a. d. 844.) 

Amara. P. L. 4. 281. 

One of those masses of rock, known as ambas, found on the 
broken plateau of Abyssinia. They sometimes rise 3,300 feet 
above the surrounding country. Mount Amara is to be identi- 
fied with the amba described as follows: "On a sandstone amba 
whose terminal escarpment, some 100 feet high, can be scaled 
only by means of ropes, lies the monastery of Debra-Damo, one 
of the most celebrated in Abyssinia. Here all the surrounding 
populations come to deposit their wealth on the least indication 
of war. The summit of this rock, covered with a vegetable soil 
and provided with one hundred and fifty perennial wells, is 
carefully cultivated. Formerly the younger members of the 
reigning house were banished to this amba." (Reclus, The 
Universal Geography 10. 175.) In .Milton's day Samuel Purchas 
described it, in part, as follows: " Nothing indeed in all Ethiopia 
more deserveth mention, whether we respect the naturall site, 
or the employment thereof. . . . This hill is situate as the navil 
of that Ethiopian body, and centre of their Empire, under the 
Equinoctiall line, where the Sun may take his best view thereof, 
as not encountering in all his long journey with the like Theatre, 
wherein the Graces and Muses are Actors, no place more graced 
with Natures store, or furnished with such a Store-house of 
Bookes, the Sunne himself so in love with the sight, that the first 
and last thing he vieweth in all those parts is this hill; and where 
Antiquitie consecrated unto him a stately Temple. The gods (if 
ye believe Homer, that they feasted in Ethiopia) could not there, 
nor in all the world, find a fitter place for entertainment, all of 
them contributing their best store, if I may so speak, to the 
banquet, Bacchus, Juno, Venus, Pomona, Ceres, and the rest, 
with store of fruits, wholesome aire, pleasant aspect and prospect, 
secured by Mars, lest any sinister accident should interrupt their 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 19 

delights, if his Garrisons of Souldiers were needful where Nature 
had so strongly fortified before. . . . Once, Heaven and Earth, 
Nature and Industrie, have all been corrivals to it, all presenting 
their best presents, to make of it this so loving presence, some 
taking this for the place of our Forefathers Paradise. ... It 
is situate in a great Plaine largely extending it selfe every way, 
without other hill in the same for the space of 30 leagues, the 
forme thereof round and circular, the height such that it is a 
dales work to ascend from the foot to the top. Round about the 
rock is cut so smooth and even, without any unequall swellings, 
that it seemeth to him that stands beneath like a high wall 
whereon the Heaven is as it were propped. And at the top it is 
over-hanged with rocks, jutting forth of the sides the space of a 
mile, bearing out like mushromes, so that it is impossible to 
ascend it, or by ramming with earth, battering with Canon, 
scaling or otherwise to win it. It is above twenty leagues in 
circuit, compassed with a wall on the top, well wrought, that 
neither man nor beast in chase may fall downe. The top is a 
plaine field, onely toward the South is a rising hill, beautifying 
this plaine, as it were with a watchtower, not serving alone to 
the eye, but yeelding also a pleasant spring which passeth through 
all that Plaine, paying his tribute to every garden that will 
exact it, and making a Lake, whence issueth a River, which 
having from these tops espied Nilus, never leaves seeking to 
finde him. . . . The way up to it is cut out within the Rocke, 
not with staires, but ascending by little and little, that one may 
ride up with ease; it hath also holes cut to let in light, and at the 
foote of this ascending place, a faire gate, with a Corpus dii 
Guarde. Halfe way up is a faire and spacious Hall cut out of 
the same rocke, with three windowes very large upwards: the 
ascent is about the length of a lance and a halfe: and at the top 
is a gate with another gard. The aire above is wholesome and 
delectable: and they live there very long, and without sicknesse. 
There are no Cities on the top, but palaces, standing by them- 
selves, in number foure and thirtie, spacious, sumptuous, and 
beautifull, where the Princes of the Royall bloud have their 
abode, with their Families. The Souldiers that gard the place 
dwell in Tents. I should lose both you and my selfe, if I should 
leade you into their sweet flourishing and fruitfuU Gardens, 
whereof there are store in this Plaine, curiously made, and 



20 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

plentifully furnished with fruits both of Europe plants there, as 
Peares, Pippins, and such like; and of their own, as Oranges, 
Citrons, Limons, and the rest; Cedars, Palme-trees, with other 
trees, and varietie of herbs and flowers, to satisfie the sight, 
taste and sent. But I would entertaine you onely with rarities 
no where else to be found ; and such is the Cubayo tree, pleasant, 
beyond all comparison, in taste, and whereunto for the vertue 
is imputed the health and long life of the Inhabitants; and the 
Balme tree, whereof there is great store here. . . . The plenty 
of Graines and Corn there growing, the charms of birds alluring 
the ear with their warbling Notes, and fixing the eye on their 
colours, joyntly agreeing in beauty, by their disagreeing varietie, 
and other Creatures that adorn this Paradise, might make me 
glut you with too much store." After a description of the 
library, and the rich treasures on Mount Amara, Purchas con- 
tinues: "But greater Jewels than those are kept in Amara, the 
Princes of the bloud Royall, which are sent to this hill at eight 
yeers old, and never returne thence, except they be chosen 
Emperours." (Pilgrimage, pp. 843-6.) Heylyn gives a descrip- 
tion similar to that of Purchas. (Cosmography 4. 64.) See 
also Mercator, p. 623, map. 

Purchas' description should be compared especially with P. L. 
4. 281-4, 543-8. 

Amathus. Eleg. 7. 1. 

A place in Cyprus famous for its temple of Venus, who was 
thence called Amathusia. 

Amboyna. Lit. Senat. (45) 7. 236. (See also Moluccae.) 

One of the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, especially famous for 
its cloves. 

America (American, Americanus). P. L. 9. 1116; Reform. (2) 
3. 45; Apology 3. 262; Contra Hisp. 7. 345, 347, 353, 354, 
363, 364, 367; 8 Prolus. 7. 467. (See also India (West), Peru- 
ana.) 

Milton's Reformation, in which he speaks of the "savage 
deserts of America" as the refuge of those who fled from the 
fury of the bishops, appeared in 1641, only twenty-one years 
after the founding of the colony of Plymouth, and eleven years 
after the founding of the Puritan colony of Massachusetts. In 



k 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 21 

Church-gov. (2) 3. 139 the clause, "they abuse the people, Hke 
poor Indians with beads and glasses," refers to the practices 
of traders in America, and in 8 Prolus. 7. 467 "American" 
indicates a barbarous and unintelligible language. The most 
elaborate reference to America is that telling of Columbus in 
P. L. 9. 1116-9. The forests on the shores of America especially 
attracted the attention of Columbus. In a letter describing his 
first voyage he writes: "The lands . . . are all most beautiful, 
of a thousand different shapes, accessible and covered with trees 
of a thousand kinds of such great height that they seemed to 
reach the skies. I am told that the trees never lose their foliage, 
and I can well understand it, for I observed that they were as 
green and luxuriant as in Spain in the month of May. Some 
were in bloom, others bearing fruit, and others otherwise accord- 
ing to their nature. . . . There are palm-trees of six or eight 
kinds, wonderful in their beautiful variety; but this is the case 
with all the other trees and fruits and grasses; trees, plants, or 
fruits filled us with admiration. It contains extraordinary pine 
groves." (Major's trans., pub. Hakluyt Soc, p. 4.) Similar 
accounts of the forests occur in the Journal of Columbus, and 
have since appeared in many places, as the Pilgrimes 1. 2.11. 
The "feathered cincture" of P. L. 9. 1118 is not mentioned by 
Columbus. His descriptions are all similar to the following from 
a letter: "The inhabitants of this and a:ll the other islands I 
have found or gained intelligence of, both men and women, go 
as naked as they were born, with the exception that some of the 
women cover one part only with a single leaf of grass or with a 
piece of cotton made for the purpose." (Major's trans., p. 6.) 
However, the girdle of feathers is conventional in early European 
representations. The allegorical figure of America on the title- 
page of the Geography of Bertius (1616) wears such a cincture 
and head-dress, and they also appear on Blaeu's map of 1605. 
In an Italian book of 1493, now in the British Museum, a wood- 
cut of the landing of Columbus represents part of the savages 
as cinctured with feathers or leaves. (Ruge, Geschichte . . . 
der Entdeckungen, p. 247.) Cf. Spenser, F. Q. 3. 12. 8. 

Ammonite. P. L. 1. 396; Samson 285. (See also Basan.) 

The Ammonites were a people dwelling on the eastern border 
of Palestine, with Rabba {q. v.) as their capital. According to 



22 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Fuller, "Ammon had Midian on the east, Moab on the south, 
Gad on the west, and Syria on the north; a circular country, 
extending about sixty miles every way." (P. 459.) 

Amorrean Coast. See Seon's Realme. 

Amstelodamensis. See Amsterdam. 

Amsterdam (Amstelodamensis, Amsterodamensis, Amsterodam- 

us). Animadv. (2. 25) 3. 207; 2 Defens. 6. 313; Pro Se 

Defens. 6. 340, 345, 394, 401; Respons. 6. 413, 417, 419; Lit. 

OHv. (26) 7. 269; (37) 7. 283; Lit. Rich. (6) 7. 337 (twice). 

In 1622 Amsterdam numbered 100,000 inhabitants. Later 

in the century it attained its greatest prosperity. When Milton 

wrote the Animadversions it was a refuge for all whose religious 

opinions were not tolerated in England, above all for the Brown- 

ists, and hence was regarded as a hotbed of heresy by all friends 

of the religious opinion established by law. Thomas Hill, a 

Presbyterian, was .as bitter against the city as was Bishop Hall. 

In 1644 he said in a sermon that "to set the door so wide open 

as to tolerate all religions" would make London an Amsterdam. 

(Masson, Life of Milton 3. 163.) 

Andover. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 236; (6) 5. 243. 
A town in Hampshire. 

Andred (Andreds Leage, Andreds Wood). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 120; 

(4) 5. 175; (5) 5. 207. 

An ancient forest in Kent, described in Chronicle 893 as a 
hundred and twelve miles long, and thirty miles broad. 

Andredchester (Newenden). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 120. (See also 

Pevensey.) 

An ancient fortress in Kent. A passage in Camden to which 
Milton refers in a note runs thus: "It [the Kentish coast] has 
Newenden, which I am almost apt to believe is the long sough t- 
for harbor which the Notitia calls Anderida, . . . the Saxons 
Andredchester, because of its situation on the forest of Andreds- 
wald." (1. 223.) 

Andreds Leage. See Andred. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 23 

Andreds Wood. See Andre d. 

Anglen. Hist. Brit. (3) 5, 112. 

According to Bede 1. 15, the country between that of the 
Saxons and that of the Jutes, being, as Milton says, the region 
"by the city of Sleswich," the modern Schleswig in the province 
of that name. 

Anglesey (Mona). Lycidas 54; Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 57, 65; (3) 
5. 133; (4) 5. 148; (6) 5. 244. (See also Man.) 
An island on the northwest coast of Wales, also known as- 
Mona. If Milton referred to Anglesey when he wrote "the 
shaggy top of Mona high," the word " shaggy" evidently refers 
to the forests with which the island was covered. (Cf. a similar 
use of the word in P. L. 4. 224; 6. 645.) In his description of 
Anglesey, Drayton writes of these forests, and of the Druidic 
rites conducted in them, as follows: 

Sometimes within my shades, in many an ancient wood, 
Whose often-twined tops, great Phoebus fires withstood. 
The fearelesse British Priests, under an aged Oake, . . . 

from that Jove-sacred tree 
The Missleto cut down. . . . 

To dwell in my blacke shades the Wood-gods did delight, 
Untroden with resort that long so gloomy were, 
As when the Roman came, it strooke him sad with feare 
To looke upon my face, which then was call'd the Darke. 

{Polyolbion 9.) 

Yet what does Milton mean by calling Mona "high?" The 
island nowhere rises to any great elevation. "High" might 
properly be applied to the Isle of Man, also sometimes called 
Mona, of which we read in Camden: "In the middle it has 
many mountains, from the highest of which, Sceafell, may be 
seen in a clear day Scotland, England, and Ireland." (3. 697.) 
Yet Camden also says that the island lacks wood. Moreover, 
the vessel in which Edward King perished was wrecked off the 
coast of Wales, and hence nearer to Anglesey than to the Isle of 
Man. Possibly Milton is giving a composite picture made up 
from accounts of both Anglesey and Man, neither of which he 
had ever seen. 

The steep 
Where your old Bards, the famous Druids, ly 
3 



24 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

has not been surely identified. Masson suggests Penmaenmawr, 
a mountain of Carnarvonshire, and Kerig-y-Druidion in South 
Denbighshire. Camden, to whom he refers, mentions no sepul- 
chres at the latter place, but merely makes the name equivalent 
to Druids' Stones. Milton's reference to the Druids, so close 
to a reference to Mona, suggests that he was thinking of Mona's 
ancient connection with the Druids, mentioned in Hist. Brit. 
(2) 5. 57. If this be true, perhaps the small island of Holyhead, 
close to the western shore of Anglesey, is the place of burial 
referred to. Holinshed describes sepulchres there as follows: 
"Herein likewise is a promontorie . . . called Holie head . . . 
from whence the readiest passage is commonly had out of North- 
wales to get over into Ireland. . . . The Britons named it . . . 
holie He, of the number of carcasses of holie men, which they 
affirm to have beene buried there." (1. 64.) Therefore, since 
Holyhead may be described as a "steep," is famous as a place of 
burial, though of Christian saints, in a region associated with 
the Druids, and is connected with the passage of the Irish Sea, 
it may well be the place Milton had in mind. 

Angleterre. See England. 

Anglia. See England. 

Angola. P. L. 11. 401; Sixteen Let. 13. (See also Congo.) 

A district in southeast Africa, now under Portuguese rule. 
The following is given in Purchas: "The King of Angola, being 
in times past but a Governour or Deputie under the King of 
Congo, . . . made himselfe a free and an absolute Prince, and 
usurped all that Quarter to his owne Jurisdiction. . . . And so 
afterwards in time conquered other Countries thereabouts, inso- 
much as he is now growne to be a great Prince and a rich, and in 
power little inferior to the King of Congo himselfe." {Pil- 
grimes 2. 995.) Purchas' map of Congo shows Angola as the 
most southern division of the country, a fact to which Milton 
probably refers by the words '"Angola fardest South." 

Angronia. Sixteen Let. 1. 

Angrogna, a valley and town of the province of Turin, Italy, 
in Milton's day part of Savoy. 

Anguilla. See Ely. 

Antarctic. See Zone, The Frozen. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 25 

Antilles. See Caribiae Insulae. 

1. Antioch (Theopolis). P. R. 3. 297; Reformation (1) 3. 14, 
20; Episcopacy 3. 74, 78 (twice), 79 (twice); Church-gov. 
(1. Pref.)3. 96; Hirelings 5.368, 376; 1 Defens. (4) 6. 90. 
(See also Daphne.) 

A city of Syria on the River Orontes, about twenty miles from 
the Mediterranean. It was a very early centre of Christianity 
(Acts 11), and its bishops had jurisdiction over the churches of 
the eastern portion of the Roman Empire. The city was the 
capital of the Seleucids, and was made magnificent by them. 
Livy says that Antiochus Epiphanes built at Antioch a temple 
which had a ceiling of fretted gold, and all the walls of which 
were covered with plates of gold. (41. 20.) He went beyond 
all his predecessors in the splendor of the entertainments of all 
sorts which he provided, and introduced gladiatorial combats 
after the Roman fashion, which were at first a terror to the citi- 
zens. Justinian rebuilt the city, after its destruction by an 
earthquake, under the name of Theopolis. 

2. Antioch. Hirelings 5. 369. 

A city of Asia Minor, on the confines of Pisidia. (Acts 13. 
14-52.) 

Antona. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 51. 

A name, of doubtful meaning, occurring in Tacitus, Annals 
12.31, to which Milton refers. 

Aonian Mount (Helicon). Marchioness 56; Eleg. 4. 29; 6. 17; 

Procancel. 32; Ad Patrem 75; P. L. 1. 15; 6 Prolus. 7. 444. 

(See also Aracynthus, Cirrha, Dirce.) 

Aonia is the name of a plain in Boeotia (Strabo 9. 2. 31), from 
which the whole country came to be called Aonia by the poets. 
For example, Ovid speaks of "Aonian Thebes." (Met. 7. 763.) 
Hence, Mount Helicon, in Boeotia, was called the "Aonian peak." 
(Virgil, Georg. 3. 11.) Helicon is a range, with several summits 
(note the plural in Eleg. 6. 17), not far from Parnassus. Strabo 
describes it as covered with snow, and rocky. (9. 2. 25.) It 
was a haunt of the Muses, who were sometimes called Aonides. 
(Ovid, Met. 5. 333.) Orgiastic worship was celebrated on the 
mountain. 



26 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Milton thinks of the universities of England as haunts of the 
Muses. Cambridge he calls Helicon (6 Prolus. 7. 444), and at 
Oxford he puts the fountain of the Aonides {Ad Rous. 21), a 
spring on Mount Helicon. 

Aonidum Pontes. See Aonian Mount. 

Apeltre. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 207. 
Appledore, on the coast of Kent. 

Apenninus (Appenninus). Quint. Nov. 50; P. R. 4. 29; 2 

Defens. 6. 289. 

Milton crossed the Apennines on his way north from Florence 
in 1639. His route may have been by the pass of Futa, or Pie- 
tramala, 3002 feet above the level of the sea, on the direct road 
from Florence to Bologna. 

Aphrodisia. Apology 3. 267. 

An imaginary region described in the Mundzis Alter et Idem 
(2. 5) of Bishop Hall. 

Appenninus. See Apenninus. 

Appian Road. P. R. 4. 68. 

A great Roman road running from Rome southward to Brun- 
disium, where, according to Strabo, travelers from the East were 
accustomed to land. (6. 3. 7.) 

Appledore. See Apeltre. 

Apulia. Commonplace 189. 
The southeastern part of Italy. 

Aquaria. Lit. Rich. (8) 7. 339. 

Yvorie, a village in France, on the shore of Lake Geneva. 

Aquitain (Aquitania). Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 11, 12; (5) 5. 227; 

Commonplace 185. 

The part of southwestern France between the Loire and the 
Garonne. 

Aquitania. See Aquitain. 

Arabia (Araby). Eleg. 4. 99; 5. 59; Damon. 186; P. L. 3. 537; 
4. 163; P. R. 2. 364; 3. 274; Samson 1700; Episcopacy 3. 85; 
Apology (11) 3. 314; Eikonocl. (17) 3. 464. (See also Sabean.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 27 

Purchas, depending on Pliny and Strabo, divides Arabia into 
three parts: "The name Foehx, or Happy, is given to the Southerly 
parts of Arabia, for the fertilitie thereof, the name Petraea to a 
second part. . . . The Desart Arabia hath a name answerable to 
the nature thereof." (Pilgrimage, p. 256.) When Milton writes 
of Arabian or "Sabean Odours" he refers to a characteristic of 
the country well known in antiquity. Pliny thus explains it: 
"There is no region in the whole world that bringeth forth 
Frankincense, but Arabia, and yet it is not to be found in all 
parts thereof, but in that quarter onely of the Atramites. Now 
these Atramites inhabite the very heart of Arabia, and are a 
countie of the Sabaei. Saba is the only countrey that yeldeth 
such plentie of the said incense. ... As for Saba, which in the 
Greeke tongue signifieth a secret mysterie, it regardeth the Sunne 
rising in Summer, or the Northeast; enclosed on every side 
with rockes inaccessible, and on the right hand it is defended with 
high cliffes and crags that beare into the sea. . . .. The forests 
that carie these Incense trees lie in length twenty Schoenes, and 
beare in bredth half as much. . . . Setting this people of the 
Sabeans aside, there be no Arabians that see an Incense Tree 
from one end of the yeare to another. . . . The common voice 
is that there bee not above three thousand families which can 
claime and challenge by right of succession that priviledge to 
gather Incense. And therefore the race of them is called Sacred 
and Holy. . . . By which religion, and ceremonious observation 
the price is raised and the Incense is the dearer." (12. 14.) 
P. L. 4. 159-65 was apparently suggested by the following in 
Diodorus: "The Sabeans possess Arabia the Happy, exceeding 
rich in all those things which we esteem most precious, and for 
breeding of cattle of all sorts the most fertile country in the 
world, for the whole country is naturally perfumed all over, 
every thing almost growing there sending forth continually most 
excellent odors. On the seacoasts grow balsam and cassia, and 
another herb of a strange and peculiar property, which while 
it is fresh is delightful and strengthening to the eyes, but kept a 
while, presently loses its virtue. Higher in the heart of the 
country are shady woods and forests, graced and beautified with 
stately trees of frankincense and myrrh, palm-trees, calamus, and 
cinnamon, and such like odoriferous plants, for none can enumer- 
ate the several natures and properties of so great a multitude, or 



28 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

the excellency of those sweet odors that breathe out of every 
one of them. For their fragrancy is such that it even ravishes 
the senses with delight, as a thing divine and unutterable; it 
entertains them that sail along by the coast at a great distance 
with its pleasures and delights. For in spring-time the winds 
from off the land waft the air, perfumed with the sweet odors 
of myrrh and other odoriferous plants to those parts of the sea 
that are next to them. And those spices have nothing of a 
faint and languishing smell, as those that come to our hands, but 
a strong and vigorous odor that strongly pierces all their senses 
to the utmost of their capacity, for the wafts of air dispersing 
the perfumes of these odoriferous plants, abundance of pleasant, 
healthful, and strange variety of scents, proceeding from the 
richest spices, are conveyed unto them that sail near unto the 
coast. For this sweet smell comes not from fruit bruised in a 
mortar, whose strength is in a great measure decayed, or from 
spices made up in divers sorts of vessels for transportation, but 
from the ripeness of the friiit, as it grows, and from the pure 
divine nature of the plant itself. So that they that have the 
advantage of those sweet odors seem as if they were entertained 
with that feigned meat of the gods called Ambrosia, since those 
excellent perfumes cannot have a name ascribed them transcend- 
ing their worth and dignity." (3. 45.) 

Among the balm trees of Arabia lives the Phoenix {Damon. 186; 
P. L. 5. 272; Samson 1700), described thus by Pliny: "The 
Phoenix of Arabia passeth all others. Howbeit, I cannot tell 
what to make of him, and first of all whether it be a tale or no 
that there is never but one of them in the whole world, and the 
same not commonly seen. By report he is as big as an Eagle, 
for colour, as yellow and bright as gold, namely all about the 
neck; the rest of the bodie a deepe red purple; the taile azure 
blew, intermingled with feathers among of rose carnation colour; 
and the head bravely adorned with a crest and pennache finely 
wrought, having a tuft and plume thereon right faire and goodly 
to be scene. . . . Never man was known to see him feeding. 
In Arabia he is held a sacred bird, dedicated unto the Sunne. 
He liveth 660 years, and when he groweth old, and begins to 
decay, he builds himselfe a nest with the twigs and branches of 
the Canell or Cinamon, and Frankincense trees, and when he 
hath filled it with all sort of sweet Aromaticall spices, yeeldeth 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 29 

up his life thereupon. Moreover, of his bones and marrow there 
breedeth at first as it were a Httle worme, which afterwards 
proveth to bee apretie bird. And the first thing that this yong 
Phoenix doth is to performe the obsequies of the former Phoenix 
late deceased, to translate and carie away his whole nest into 
the citie of the Sunne neere Panchaea, and to bestow it full 
devoutly there upon the altar." (10. 2.) See also Thebes, 
Egyptian. 

Araby. See Arabia. 

Arachosia. P. R. 3. 316. 

A region west of the Indus River, comprising part of the 
modern Beluchistan. See Strabo 11. 10. 1. Arachosia, indicat- 
ing the eastern boundary of Parthia, corresponds to "Indus 
East" (P. R. 3. 272) in the description of Assyria. 

Aracynthus. Quint. Nov. 65. 

A mountain on the boundary of Attica and Boeotia. 

Araxes. P. R. 3. 271. 

A river of Armenia which rises near Erzerum and flows east 
into the Caspian. Mela describes it as here flowing silently and 
placidly, and there rushing over the rocks in rapids and cataracts. 
(3. 5.) Virgil refers to the force of the river in the words, 
"Araxes that spurns a bridge" {jEneid 8. 728), which occur in a 
historical and geographical passage like that of Milton. 

Arcadia. Arcades 28, 95; Comus 341; P. L. 11. 132. 

A region of central Peloponnesus. Milton's references are 
usually to the conventional Arcadia of pastoral literature. 

Archangel (Arkania). Moscovia (1) 8. 472, 473; Lit. Senat. (22) 

7. 207. 

A seaport of northern Russia, on the east shore of the River 
Dwina, near the White Sea, where there was a house for the 
convenience of EngHsh merchants. It was named after the 
monastery of St. Michael the Archangel situated there. When 
Milton refers to it as northeast of Saint Nicholas, he is following 
Jenkinson's map of Russia. (Ortelius, p. 99.) In reality the place 
is not, as Jenkinson indicates, close to the sea, but at the head 
of the estuary of the Dwina, and hence east of Saint Nicholas. 



30 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Arkania is, as Milton suggests, evidently identical with Arch- 
angel. He took the name from Pilgrimes 3. 546. 

Archenfield. See Irchenfield. 

Arenne. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 259. 

Probably a misprint for Arewe, a river in Suffolk now called 
Orwell. 

Arethuse. Arcades 31; Lycidas 85. (See also Alpheus.) 

A fountain on the island of Ortygia, part of the city of Syracuse, 
described by Cicero as a "fountain of fresh water, of incredible 
magnitude." {Verr. 4. 1-18.) 

Arewe. See Arenne. 

Arezzo. Areopag. 4. 413. 

A city of Valdarno, Italy, mentioned by Milton as the birth- 
place of the satirist Pietro Aretino. 

Argentina. See Strasburgh. 

Argiers. See Algiers. 

Argob. P. L. 1. 398. (See also Basan.) 

A region in Bashan not surely identified, described in Deute- 
ronomy 3. 4-5 as part of the kingdom of Og. Fuller represents 
Argob as near the Jordan, some distance north of the Sea of 
Galilee. (P. 91, map.) 

Argos. Eikonocl. (28) 3. 522; Hist.' Brit. (1) 5. 4; 1 Defens. (4) 
6. 75. 
An ancient city of Argolis, Greece. 

Arimaspian. P. L. 2. 945. (See also Cronian Sea.) 

One of a mythical race dwelling in Scythia, toward the 
north. They are sometimes placed near the Volga. Milton 
refers to the story that the Arimaspians purloin the gold guarded 
in the mountains by the griphons. See Herodotus 3. 116; 4. 13, 
27; Pliny 7. 2. 

Arimathea. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 75. 

A city of Palestine in the hill country of Ephraim. (Matthew 

27. 57.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON ' 31 

Ariminium. Reformation (1) 3. 14; Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 85; Hire- 
lings 5. 376. 
Rimini, a city of Emilia, Italy, near the Adriatic. A council 

was held there in 359. Milton indicates as his source Sulpicius 

Severus, Church History 2. 41. 

Arkania. See Archangel. 

Arkiko. See Ercoco. 

Aries. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 91, 92; (3) 5. 115; (4) 5. 140. 

A city of France on the right bank of the Rhone, near its mouth. 

Armagh. Episcopacy 3. 72; Church-gov. (1. 3) 3. 107, 108; 

(1.5) 3. 117. 

A city of Ulster, Ireland, seat of an Anglican archbishop, 
Primate of Ireland. 

Armorica (Britain in France). Damon. 165; P. L. 1. 581; Hist. 

Brit. (2) 5. 30, 81, 89; (3) 5. 115 (twice). 

That part of France between the Loire, the Seine, and the 
Ocean. 

Arno (Arnus). Damon. 129; Sonnet 3. 10; Epist. Fam. (8) 7. 

380. (See also Valdarno.) 

A river of Tuscany. The chief cities on it are Pisa and 
Florence. When Milton went from Pisa to Florence he perhaps 
took a boat on the river, which is usually navigable. 

Arnon. P. L. 1. 399. (See also Seon's Realm, Moab.) 

A river flowing westward into the central part of the Dead 
Sea. It is represented in Numbers 21. 13 as the northern 
boundary of Moab. The Moabites had formerly occupied land 
north of it, but had been driven out by Sihon (Numbers 21. 24). 
According to recent geography, the river is so far away from the 
country of the Ammonites that it is impossible to see why Milton 
made it one of their limits. But according to the maps of his 
time the passage is clear, for they represent Arnon as rising near 
"Rabba" (g. v.), and flowing southwest into the northeast corner 
of the Dead Sea, apparently by confusion with other streams. 
Fuller writes: "The rivers of Arnon and Jabbok, though running 
contrary ways, arise not far asunder, according to the exact 
observation of Josephus, who saith that the land of Sihon, king 
of the Amorites, lay in nature and fashion like an island, betwixt 



32 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

the three rivers of Jordan, Arnon, and Jabbok, so near are the 
fountains of the latter together. . . . Arnon is notoriously known 
to be the eastern bound of Canaan." (Pp. 77, 574.) Hence 
Milton may properly have thought of the Arnon as the western 
boundary of the southern part of the country of the Ammonites. 

Arnus. See Arno. 

Aroer. P. L. 1. 407. (See also Arnon.) 

A city of Palestine, now ruined, on the north bank of the River 
Arnon. It was taken from the Amorites by the children of 
Israel (Deuteronomy 2. 36), but had formerly belonged to Moab 
(cf. Jeremiah 48. 19). There is another, less famous Aroer 
(Joshua 13. 25; Judges 11. 33), apparently situated not far from 
Rabba (q. v.). In Milton's time the two were considered as one, 
which was placed near Rabba, but still on the Arnon, which was 
mistakenly supposed to rise near Rabba. Hence Milton, whose 
reference properly indicates the more famous Aroer, supposed 
it to lie far northeast of its true site, and thought that in writing 
Aroer, Nebo, and Abarim in succession he was passing from north 
to south, when as a matter of fact Aroer is south of Nebo. 

Arras. Eikonocl. (21) 3. 483; Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 31, 34, 43. 

The capital of the department of Pas-de-Calais, France. 
Artaxata. P. R. 3. 292. 

The ancient capital of Armenia, on the River Araxes. In his 
Life of Lucullus Plutarch thus tells of the origin of the city: 
"Lucullus rose up and marched to Artaxata, the royal city of 
Tigranes, where his wives and young children were kept, judging 
that Tigranes would never suffer that to go without the hazard 
of a battle. It is related that Hannibal the Carthaginian, after 
the defeat of Antiochus by the Romans, coming to Artaxas 
king of Armenia, pointed out to him many other matters to his 
advantage, and observing the great natural capacities and the 
pleasantness of the site, then lying unoccupied and neglected, 
drew a model of a city for it, and bringing Artaxas thither, 
showed it to him, and encouraged him to build. At which the 
king being pleased, and desiring him to oversee the work, erected 
a large and stately city, which was called after his own name 
and made metropolis of Armenia." (3. 268.) 

Arundel. Commonplace 178. 
An earldom in Sussex. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 33 

Arzina. Moscovia (5) 8. 504. 

Warzina, a river of the peninsula of Cola, Lapland. Milton 
refers in a note to Hakluyt: "The other two shippes attempt- 
ing further Northwards, as appeared by pamphlets found after 
written by Sir Hugh Willoughbie, were in September encountred 
with such extreame colde that they put back to seeke a wintring 
place, and missing the said baye fell upon a desert coast in Lappia, 
entring into a River immediately frozen up, since discovered, 
named Arzina Reca, . . . from which they never returned, but 
all to the number of 70 persons perished." (Hak. 1. 464.) 

Ascalon (Askalon). P. L. 1. 465; Samson 138, 1187; Animadv. 

(16. 148) 3. 241 (4 times). 

One of the five cities of the Philistines, on the shore of the 
Mediterranean. See Judges 14. 19; 2 Samuel 1. 20. 

Ashdod (Azotus). P. L. 1. 464; Samson 981. 

In the Vulgate Azotus. One of the five cities of the Philistines, 
near the Mediterranean, about half-way between Gaza and 
Joppa. It was a centre of the worship of Dagon. (1 Samuel 
5. 1-7; 1 Maccabees 10. 83-4.) 

1. Ashdown (Ashdune, Escesdunc, Eskesdun). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 
161; (5) 5. 201, 247. 

An unidentified battlefield in Berkshire, England. 

2. Ashdown (Assandune, Assehill, Assendune). Hist. Brit. (6) 
5. 260, 264. 

Ashington, Essex. Camden, to whom Milton refers in a note, 
speaks of "Ashdown, formerly Assandon, which Marianus trans- 
lates the Mount of Asses." (2. 42.) 

Ashdune. See 1. Ashdown. 

Asia (Asis). Quint. Nov. 170; P. L. 10. 310; P. R. 3. d>3- 4. 73; 

Reformation (1) 3. 18 (twice), 27; Episcopacy 3. 79; Animadv. 

(13. 76) 3. 226; Eikonocl. (27) 3. 507; Education 4. 390; 

Areopag. 4. 421; Kings & Mag. 4. 459; Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 110; 

Hirelings 5. 371; 1 Defens. (2) 6. 31; 8 Prolus. 7. 464; Decl. 

Poland 8. 463, 464. 

Usually the continent of Asia, but sometimes the Roman 
province of that name in Asia Minor. 

Asis. See Asia. 



34 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Askalon. See Ascalon. 

Asopus. Quint. Nov. 66. 

A river of Boeotia, having some of its sources in Mount 
Cithaeron, and flowing into the Euripus. 

Asphaltic Pool (Asphaltis, Bituminous Lake, Dead Sea). P. L. 

1. 411; 10. 562; Church-gov. (2) 3. 183; Eikonocl. (24) 3. 492. 

(See also Sodom.) 

The Dead Sea, the body of water into which the River Jordan 
empties, without an outlet and 1300 feet below the level of the 
Mediterranean. It was called Lake Asphaltis because of the 
masses of asphalt or bitumen now and in ancient times found 
floating in it. The following is the description of Josephus: 
"It is . . . bitter and unfruitful, and so light that it bears 
up the heaviest things that are thrown into it, nor is it easy for 
any one to make things sink to the bottom of it, if he tries to do so. 
For example, when Vespasian went to see it, he commanded 
that some who could not swim should have their hands tied 
behind them, and be thrown into its depths, when it happened 
that they all floated on the top as if a wind forced them upwards. 
Moreover, the change of color in this lake is wonderful, for it 
changes its appearance thrice every day, and its light is variously 
reflected according to the rays of the sun. And it casts up black 
clods of bitumen in many parts of it, which float on the top of 
the water, and resemble both in shape and size headless bulls. 
And when the laborers that belong to the lake come on it, and 
catch hold of it as it is in a composite mass, they drag it into 
their boats; but when the boats are full it is not easy to detach 
it, for it is so tenacious as to make the boat adhere to its mass. 
. . . This bitumen is not only useful for the calking of ships, 
but also for the cure of men's bodies, so it is mixed in a great 
many medicines. The length of this lake is five hundred and 
eighty furlongs, as it extends as far as Zoar in Arabia, and its 
breadth is a hundred and fifty. The country of Sodom borders 
upon it, which was of old a happy land, both for the fruits it 
bore and the riches of its cities, although it is now all burnt up. 
They say that it was burnt by lightning for the impiety of 
its inhabitants. And there are still vestiges of that divine 
fire, and the traces of five cities are still to be seen, as 
also ashes growing on the fruits, which fruits look as if they 



b 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 35 

were fit to eat, but if people pluck them with their hands, they 
dissolve into smoke and ashes. And thus what is related about 
the land of Sodom is borne out by our eye-sight." {Jewish War 
4. 8. 4.) Josephus obviously depends on Genesis 19. 23-5. 
Strabo gives a vivid account of the destruction of the cities by 
earthquake, fire, and deluge. (16. 2. 44.) The belief that the 
Dead Sea covers the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah is a common 
one. For example, Adrichomius, on his maps of the Dead Sea 
(p. 38, etc.) shows the cities in the midst of the lake. Milton 
alludes to it in Chiirch-gov. and in P. L. 10. 562. The apples of 
Sodom are spoken of by a recent traveler in the following manner: 
"Here and elsewhere abounds the apple of Sodom, described by 
Josephus. It has the appearance of a beautiful fruit, but 
collapses and contains nothing but a little smoke-like dust and 
some smoke-like fibre." (Geog. Journal 39. 1. 39.) With P. L. 
10. 547-70 and Eikonod. (24) 3. 492, compare Phineas Fletcher's 
reference : 

So Sodom apples please the ravisht eye, 

But sulphure taste proclaims their root 's in hell. 

{Ptirple Island 7. 37.) 

Vida also tells of the Dead Sea and its fallacious fruit. ( Christiad 
2. 374 ff.) Cf. Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered 10. 60-1. 

Asphaltis. See Asphaltic Pool, 

Aspramont. P. L. 1. 583. 

Aspremont, now Aspromonte, a mountain in Reggio di Cala- 
bria, Italy, where, according to Aspremont, a popular chanson de 
geste of the Middle Ages, was fought a battle between the forces 
of Charlemagne and those of the pagan Agolant. In the battle 
Roland distinguished himself, killing Helmont, son of Agolant, 
with a staff. Charlemagne rewarded him with Veillantif, the 
horse of Helmont, and Durandal his sword. An Italian poem 
entitled Aspramonte, dealing with the story, was first printed 
between 1487 and 1490, and often reprinted, as late as 1620. 
(L. Gautier, Les Epopees Frangaises 3. 70-94.) The victory of 
Charlemagne and the exploits of Orlando at Aspramont are 
mentioned in the Orlando Furioso 12. 43 and 27. 54, in Pulci's 
Morgante Maggiore 1. 13, and in Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato 
2. 11. 8. 3-8. 



36 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Aspromonte. See Aspramont. 

Assandune. See 2. Ashdown. 

Assehill. See 2. Ashdown. 

Assendune. See 2. Ashdown. 

Asshur. See Assyria. 

Associatio. See Tortuga. 

Assyria (Asshur). Comus 1002; Ps. 83. 29; Eleg. 4. 114; Mansus 

11; Idea Platon. 29; P. L. 1. 721; 4. 126, 285; P. R. 3. 270, 

436; 5 Prolus. 7. 437; Decl. Poland 8. 464. 

A district, sometimes in the Old Testament called Ashur, in 

the upper part of Mesopotamia, along the shores of the Tigris. 

The chief city was Nineveh. The word is also used in a wider 

sense, as applied to the whole Assyrian Empire. Strabo extends 

its bounds as far as Cilicia, Phoenicia, and Judea. In P. R. 

3. 270-4 Milton gives the bounds of the Empire. He sometimes 

uses the word in the sense of Phoenician: in Comus 1002 he has 

reference to the story of Thammuz, in Mansus he alludes to // 

Adone of Marino, and in Idea Platon. 29 he probably indicates 

Sanchoniathon. A precedent for this usage is found in Virgil, 

Georg. 2. 465. 

Assyrian Flood. See Euphrates. 

Assyrian Garden. See Paradise. 

Assyrian Mount. See Niphates. 

Asta. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 89. 

A city of Liguria on the River Tanarus, now called Asti. 

Astracan. P. L. 10. 432; Moscovia (1) 8. 471, 475 (twice); (4) 

8. 492; (5) 8. 512, 518. 

A city on the River Volga not far from the Caspian Sea. 
Milton refers in a note to the following description by Jenkinson: 
"Passing by an old castle, which was Old Astracan, and leaving 
it upon our right hand, we arrived at New Astracan, which this 
Emperour of Russia conquered sixe yeeres past, in the yeere 
1552. It is from Mosco unto Astracan sixe hundred leagues, or 
thereabout. The towne of Astracan is situated in an Island 
upon a hill side, having a castle within the same, walled about 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 37 

with earth and timber, neither faire nor strong. The towne is 
also walled about with earth, the buildings and houses, except 
it be the captaines lodging, and certaine other gentlemens, most 
base and simple. The Hand is most destitute and barren of 
wood and pasture, and the ground will beare no corne. The 
aire is there most infected, by reason, as I suppose, of much fish, 
and specially Sturgion, by which onely the inhabitants live, 
having great scarsitie of flesh and bread. They hang up thier 
fish in their streets and houses to dry for their provision, which 
causes such abundance of flies to increase there, as the like was 
never scene in any land, to their great plague. And at my 
being at the sayd Astracan, there was a great famine and plague 
among the people. . . . This Astracan is the furthest hold that 
this Emperour of Russia hath conquered of the Tartars towards 
the Caspian Sea, which he keepeth very strong, sending thither 
every yere provision of men, and victuals, and timber to build 
the castle. . . . This foresaid Island of Astracan is in length 
twelve leagues, and in bredth three, and lieth East and West in 
the latitude of fortie seven degrees, nine minutes." (Hak. 1. 
326.) The following passage is probably one of the sources of 
P. L. 10. 431-3: "In this towne of Astracan they were somwhat 
hindered of their journey, and staied the space of sixe weekes by 
reason of a great army of 70,000 Turkes and Tartars which came 
thither upon the instigation of the great Turke, hoping either to 
have surprised it suddenly or by continuance of siege to win the 
same. But in the end by reason that the winter approached, 
as also because they had received newes of a great expedition 
which the Emperour of Russia was in providing for the defence 
of the said place, they were constrained to raise their siege, and 
to leave the town as they found it." (Hak. 1. 395.) As Milton 
suggests by his reference to "Snowie Plaines," the winters at 
Astracan are severe. For example we read in Purchas: '.'The 
nineteenth of November the winde being northerly, there was a 
great frost and much Ice in the River. The next day . . . the 
Ice stood in the River, and so continued untill Easter day." 
(Pilgrimes 3. 244.) 

Athelney (Edelingsey). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 205, 206; MS. 2. 114. 

A hiding-place of King Alfred, in Somersetshire at the conflux 

of the Thone and the Parret. Asser describes it thus: "This is 



38 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

a place surrounded by impassable fens and waters on every hand, 
where no one can enter but by boats, or by a bridge laboriously 
constructed between two fortresses." (Chap. 92.) 

Athenae. See Athens. 

Athens (Athena?). Infant 9; Sonnet 8. 14; P. L. 9. 671; P. R. 

4. 240; Church-gov. (2. Pref.) 3. 145; Animadv. (1. 2) 3. 188; 

Eikonocl. (28) 3. 522; Divorce (2. 11) 4. 90; Areopag. 4. 398, 

400; Easy Way 5. 436, 437, 450; 1 Defens. (5) 6. 106, 107; 

2 Defens. 6. 310; Logic (1. 25) 7. 81 (twice); (1. 27) 7. 89 

(twice); Epist. Fam. (8) 7. 379, 380; (12) 7. 388; (15) 7. 

392; 6 Prolus. 7. 443; 8 Prolus. 7. 464. (See also Attica.) 

Athens was to Milton the place "where Books and Wits were 

ever busier then in any other part of Greece." {Areopag. 4. 400.) 

In P. R. 4. 237-80 are brought together the aspects of Athens 

that most interested him, with the exception of the legal 

{Eikonocl. (28) 3. 522; Easy Way 5. 436-7), and the military 

{Divorce (2. 11) 4. 90). The clear air of Attica {P. R. 4. 239) was 

in antiquity often commented on. Euripides refers to it as 

follows : 

O happy the race in the ages olden 

Of Erechtheus, . . . 

Ever through the air clear-shining brightly 

As on wings uplifted pacing lightly. {Medea 824 ff.) 

Plato puts in the mouth of an aged Egyptian priest this descrip- 
tion: "She chose the spot of earth in which you were born, 
because she saw that the happy temperament of the seasons in 
that land would produce the wisest of men." {TimcBUS 24.) 
Cicero brings out the effect of the air suggested by Milton: "The 
air is fine at Athens, from which cause the Athenians are thought 
to be keener." {De Fato 7.) Milton's "light the soil" is a 
translation from Thucydides 1.2. It is perhaps also influenced by 
Plato's Critias 111. With "Athens the eye of Greece" compare 
the following: "Oxford, which Cambden calleth Our most noble 
Athens, the Muses seat, the Sun, the Eye, and the Soul of 
England." (Edward Phillips, The New World of Words, ed. 
1671, s. V. Oxford.) See also Cambridge. 

Milton perhaps learned something of Athens and her environs 
from his friend Leonard Philaris, who was in London in 1654. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 39 

In letters to him Milton expresses great admiration for the city. 

{Epist. Fam. (12, 15) 7. 388, 392.) 

Athos. Quint. Nov, 174. 

A mountain at the extremity of the easternmost peninsula of 
Chalcidice, said by Strabo to be so high that those on its summit 
see the sun rise three hours earlier than those at its foot. (7. 
Frag. Z3.) 

1. Atlantic. Lycidas 168, 191; Comus 4-5 (in the fifteen can- 
celed lines found at this point in the Cambridge MS.), 97; 
P. L. 3. 559; 9. 80. (See also Azores.) 

Milton refers to the Atlantic in classical fashion as the western 
water in which the setting sun seemed to disappear. In Lycidas 
191 the "Western bay" is probably the Atlantic, and the word 
"bay" is used for the sake of the rime. Compare the reference 
to the rising sun in Nativity 231. 

2. Atlantic. See Atlas. 

Atlas (Atlantic). Idea Platon. 24; Ad Patrem 40; Mansus 72; 

P. L. 2. 306; 4.987; 10.674; 11.403; P. R. 4. 115; Epist. 

Fam. (20) 7. 398. 

A system of mountains in northwestern Africa. They are 
often mentioned in the description of the "Kingdoms of Alman- 
sor" {P. L. 11. 403) given by Leo Africanus, because those king- 
doms lay north of Atlas. Pory, in the Introduction to his trans- 
lation of Leo, describes them in the following manner: "Africa 
hath very many and most exceeding great mountaines, the 
principall whereof is Mount Atlas, whose tops of incredible 
height rising out of the midst of sandy desertes, exalt themselves 
above the cloudes. This mountaine beginneth westward at that 
place where it distinguisheth the Ocean by the name of Atlan- 
ticus, from whence by a perpetual ridge, after many windings 
and turnings, it extendeth east toward the confines of Egypt. 
Moreover it is in most places rounde, hard to ascend, craggie, 
steepe, impassable, cold, barren, shadie, and everywhere full of 
woods and fountaines, with clouds alwaies hovering about the 
tops thereof, being forlorn and desolate toward the Ocean, but 
over against Africa minor most fertile." (P. 16.) Virgil thus 
pictures Atlas as it appeared to the flying Mercury: "He descries 
the crest and steep sides of hardy Atlas, who props the heaven 
4 



40 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

on his top, Atlas, whose piny head, ever encircled with black 
clouds, is lashed by wind and rain; snow pours down and covers 
his shoulders; besides, torrents flow headlong down the old man's 
chin, and his beard is bristling and stiff with ice." {M^ieid 
4. 246-51.) In Epist. Fam. (20) 7. 398 Milton puns on the name 
Atlas, meaning a book of maps. Sometimes he refers to the 
giant Atlas more than to the mountain. The comparison of the 
archetypal giant to Atlas in Idea Platon. 24 suggests that of 
Satan to Mount Atlas in P. L. 4. 985-9. The words "Atlantic 
stone" in P. R. 4. 115, perhaps mean "Stone from Mount 
Atlas;" see Jerram's note in his edition of P. R. 

Atropatia. P. R. 3. 319. (See also Media.) 

Atropatia, or Media Atropatia, was the extreme northwest 
part of Media, south of the Araxes River. (Pliny 6. 13.) 

Attica (Actajus). II Pens. 124; Sonnet 17. 10; Ad Rous. 60; 
P. R. 4. 245; Areopag. 4. 402; 2 Defens. 6. 310; Pro Se 
Defens. 6. 374; Epist. Fam. (8) 7. 380; (12) 7. 388; 6 Prolus. 
7. 444. (See also Athens.) 

Augsburg. See 1. Augusta. 

1. Augusta. Rami Vita 7. 184. 

Augsburg (Latin, Augusta Vindelicorum) , Bavaria. 

2. Augusta. See London. 

Aulre (Aldra). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 206. (See also Athelney.) 
A place near Athelney. {Chronicle 878.) 

Auran. P. L. 4. 211. (See also Eden.) 

Auranit's in Babylonia on the Euphrates, given, for example, 
on the map of Bochart. (P. 1.) Purchas, following the com- 
mentator Franciscus Junius, says that the name Auranitis or 
Audanitis is '' easily declined from Heden (Eden) mentioned after 
Moses' time in 2 Kings 19. 12 and Isaiah 37. 12." {Pilgrimage, p. 
19.) Annotators sometimes explain Milton's Auran as Hauran 
(Vulgate, Auran) a region of northeast Palestine. This is, how- 
ever, improbable, for the desert intervenes between Hauran and 
Mesopotamia, and there is no reason to suppose that Milton 
intended to make Eden of so great extent. He was, it may be 
assumed, well aware of the association of Auranitis with Eden. 

Ausonian Land. See Italy. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 41 

Austria. Ad Patrem 94; Divorce (2. 2) 4. 61; Hirelings 5. 385; 
Lit. Oliv. (36) 7. 282; (44) 7. 293. (See also Peru.) 
In Milton's time one of the chief Roman Catholic powers of 
Europe. The unusual adjective "Austriacus" in Ad Patrem 
94 refers to the house of Austria, the reigning family in Spain 
in Milton's day. South America, mentioned in the context as 
"Peruana regna," was its chief source of treasure. 

Auxerre. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 105. 

A town of France on the River Yonne, a tributary of the 
Seine. 

Aven. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 123. (See also Kerdicsford.) 

The East Avon, a river of Wilts and Hants which flows into 
the English Channel. 

Aventinus. Quint. Nov. 109. 

The most southern of the seven hills on which Rome is built. 

Averaus. Eleg. 2. 17; 7 Prolus. 7. 450. 

A lake in Campania, not far from Naples. It was anciently 
believed to be the entrance of the infernal regions. Milton 
undoubtedly visited it when in Italy. 

1. Avon (Afene). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 157; (5) 5. 216. (See 
also 2. Avon. 

A river of England rising in Northamptonshire and flowing into 
the Severn. It is the longest of the English rivers of the name. 

2. Avon. Vacat. Ex. 97; Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 157. (See also 
Bradford.) 

The Bristol Avon, a river of Wilts and Somerset emptying 
into the Bristol Channel. Keightley thinks it, rather than the 
Avon of the preceding article, the Avon of Vacat. Ex. 97, and 
refers to the following: 

But Avon marched in more stately path, 
Proud of his Adamants, with which he shines 
And glisters wide. {F. Q. 4. IL 31.) 

3. Avon. See Aven. 
Aylesbury. See Eglesburn. 



42 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Azores. P. L. 4. 592. (See also Atlantic.) 

A group of islands in the Atlantic, eight hundred miles west 
of Portugal. They were made prominent in English history by 
the " Island Voyage," an expedition undertaken by the Earl of 
Essex in 1597. (Pilgrimes 4. 1935.) Milton uses them as a figure 
for the extreme west, where the sun sets. Compare a similar use 
of the Cape Verde Islands in P. L. 8. 631, and of the "Ocean 
lies," which may be the Azores, in P. L. 4. 354. Cf. Comus 97, 
which is an obvious imitation of the classics, not modified by a 
knowledge of modern geography, as are the passages in P. L. 

Azotus. See Ashdod. 

Azza. See Gaza. 

Babel. See Babylon. 

Babylon (Babel). Sonnet 15. 14; Ps. 87. 13; Quint. Nov. 156; 

P. L. 1. 694, 717; 3. 466, 468; 12. 44, 51, 73, 343, 348; P. R. 

3. 280; 4. 336; Reformation (1) 3. 6; (2) 3. 49; Church-gov. 

(2. Conclus.) 3. 176; Animadv. (14. 139) 3. 239; Eikonocl. 

(28) 3. 518, 527 (4 times); Divorce (1. 13) 4. 53; Tetrach. 

(Deut. 24. 1, 2) 4. 185; Education 4. 381 ; True Relig. 5. 412; 

Easy Way 5. 426; 1 Defens. (2) 6. 36 (twice); (4) 6. 83; 2 

Defens. 6. 2'58; Logic (1. 24) 7. 78. 

An ancient city on the Euphrates. The direct references of 
Milton to Babylon are all dependent on the Bible. He identifies 
the Tower of Babel with Babylon, e. g., in P. L. 12. 343, which 
refers to the narrative in P. L. 12. 38-47, partly founded on 
Genesis 11. 1-9. On the authority of Genesis 10. 10 Milton 
makes Nimrod the builder of the Tower, and hence the founder 
of Babylon. In making him the builder of the Tower, Milton 
follows the common opinion of the Middle Ages, recorded thus 
by Dante: '* I saw Nimrod at the foot of his great toil, as though 
bewildered, and the nations looking on who were proud with 
him inShinar." (Purgatory 12. 34:-7.) Modern travelers whose 
narratives were accessible to Milton believed that they saw the 
ruins of the Tower of Babylon; for example we read in Purchas 
the following: " In this place stood the olde mighty city of Baby- 
lon, many olde ruines whereof are easily to be scene by day-light, 
which I John Eldred have often beheld at my good leasure. . . . 
Here also are yet standing the ruines of the olde tower of Babel, 
which being upon a plaine ground seemeth a farre off very great, 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 43 

but the nerer you come to it, the lesser and lesser it appeareth. 
Sundry times I have gone thither to see it, and found the rem- 
nants yet standing above a quarter of a mile in compasse, and 
almost as high as the stoneworke of Pauls steeple in London, 
but it sheweth much bigger. The bricks rehiaining in this most 
ancient monument be halfe a yard thicke, and three quarters of 
a yard long, being dried in the Sunne onely, and betweene every 
course of bricks there lieth a course of mattes made of canes, 
which remaine sound and not perished, as though they had bene 
layed within one yeere" (Hak. 2. 269). Many opinions of con- 
temporary scholars on Babylon and the Tower of Babel are given 
by Bochart (pp. 27-72). Milton sometimes disagrees with him. 
For example, Bochart supposes that the builders of Babel came 
from Mount Ararat, while Milton says that they came from Eden 
(P. L. 12. 40), a statement for which no source has been found. 

P. L. 12. 41-3, telling of the lake of asphalt near Babylon, 
and of its use in building (cf. P. L. 10. 298), depends first on 
Genesis 11. 3, yet there are later possible sources. Servius, for 
instance, gives the following: "Bitumen is said to be produced 
from the thunderbolt, for which reason near Babylon, where 
thunderbolts often fall, a lake of it overflows to such a degree 
that they build walls of it." (On Eclogues 8.82.) A traveler at 
the end of the sixteenth century thus describes what he saw: 
"By the river Euphrates two dayes journey from Babylon at a 
place called Ait, in a field neere unto it, is a strange thing to 
see: a mouth that doth continually throwe foorth against the 
ayre boyling pitch with a filthy smoke, which pitch doth runne 
abroad into a great field which is alwayes full thereof. The 
Moores say that it is the mouth of hell. By reason of the great 
quantitie of it, the men of that country doe pitch their boats 
two or three inches thicke on the outside, so that no water doth 
enter into them." (Hak. 2. 251.) Marlowe refers several 
times to the lake of asphalt in 2 Tamhurlaine (e. g., 4129), but 
apparently confuses it with the Dead Sea (see Asphaltic Pool). 

Milton sometimes uses the word Babylon figuratively for 
Rome, as the seat of the Pope. (Cf. Revelation 14. 8.) 

Baca. Ps. 84. 21. 

Probably not an actual place. Fuller's discussion runs thus: 
"Some render it appellatively 'the vale of weeping,' . . . but 



44 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

if you be pleased to take this vale for a proper place, I embrace 
the opinion of the learned Ainsworth on the text, that this Vale 
of Baca, or mulberry trees, for so it also signifieth, was near to 
Jerusalem; out of the tops of which trees God sounded the 
alarm to David when he conquered the Philistines (2 Samuel 
5. 23)." (Pp. 599-600.) 

Bactra. P. R. 3. 285. (See also Boghar.) 

Modern Balkh, the capital of the district of Afghanistan of 
the same name. Strabo mentions the city several times, e. g., 
in 15. 2. 8. The district was anciently called Bactria. 

Bactrian. P. L. 10. 433. (See also Bactra, Casbeen, Tauris.) 
By "Bactrian" Milton means Persian, for Tauris and Casbeen 
were capitals of Persia, and the Sophy was the ruler of Persia. 
Bactria was once subject to Persia and Persian was spoken there. 
Davity says that it is a province of Persia not entirely under the 
rule of the sophis. (P. 939.) Anthony Jenkinson thus describes 
the retreat of the Sophy: "This Sophie that now raigneth is 
nothing valiant, although his power be great, and his people 
martiall, and through his pusillanimitie the Turke hath much 
invaded his countreys, even nigh unto the Citie of Teveris, 
wherein he was wont to keepe his chiefe court. And now having 
forsaken the same, is chiefly resiant at Casbin aforesaide, and 
alwayes as the said Turke pursueth him, he not being able to 
withstand the Turke in the fielde, trusting rather to the moun- 
taines for his safegard, then to his fortes and castles, hath caused 
the same to be rased within his dominions, and his ordinance 
to be molten, to the intent that his enemies pursuing him, they 
should not strengthen themselves with the same." (Hak. 1. 
351.) Knolles describes the same circumstances as follows: 
"Tamas [the "Bactrian Sophy"] understanding that Solyman 
was coming against him with a world of men, thought it not good 
to abide the coming of so puissant an enemy, but with delay to 
weary him out, that drew such a multitude of people after him; 
and by taking him at all advantages, to cut off his people, spent 
with long travell, wanting victuall, and falling into divers dis- 
eases, as it commonly chanceth to populous armies in strange 
countries, where the change of the aire, with the inevitable 
necessity alwaies attending upon a great army, most times 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 45 

causeth grievous and contagious diseases. Wherefore Tarnas 
to shun the comming of Solyman, retired further off into Sul- 
tania, about six daies journy from Tauris. . . . Solymans army 
being mightily increased . . . departed again toward Tauris. 
. . . But Tamas advertised of his comming, and knowing him- 
selfe to weak to give him battel, forsook the City, and fled into 
the mountains of Hyrcania, destroying all the Country before 
him as he went, and carrying away the inhabitants, leaving 
nothing to relieve the Turks souldiers, if they should pursue him. 
Solyman understanding that Tamas was again fled, sent Ulemas 
with all the choice horsemen of his Army to overtake him if it 
were possible, and to fight with him. But when he had followed 
him two or three dayes journy, and still found the Country 
desolate as he went, yeelding neither forrage for his horses, nor 
relief for his men, and saw no hope to overtake the King, he 
began as a provident General to forecast the extremities like 
to befall in his return thorow those desolat Countries with the 
Enemy at his heels, and therupon in time retyred backe again 
to Solyman, declaring unto him what had happened." Then 
follows the account of the disastrous retreat of the Turks, in 
which is the sentence: "The fierce mountain people also, who 
had formerly suffered great injuries of the Turkes, after the 
death of Aladeules their King, had now joyned themselves to 
the Persians, and notably revenged their wrongs; to whose share 
all the baggage of the Turks camp fel for a prey." {History of 
the Turks, pp. 649-51.) We do not wonder that the ruler of 
Persia shunned the "homes of Turkish Crescent" when we read 
of "the manner of the entring of Soliman the great Turke, with 
his armie, into Aleppo in Syria, marching toward Persia against 
the Great Sophie, the fourth day of November, 1553," in Hak. 
2. 1. 112, where the formidable appearance of the Turkish army 
is fully described. 

Badburie. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 214. (See also Winburne.) 
A place near Winburne. ( Chronicle 901.) 

Badencester. See Bath. 

Badon. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 123, 125, 126 (thrice), 129 (twice), 131, 
133. 
A battlefield of unknown situation, in southwest England. 



46 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Bagdad. See Baldac. 

Baiae. See Beiana. 

Bajona. Lit. Oliv. (59) 7. 308. 
Bayonne, in southwestern France. 

Bakewell. See Bedecanwillan. 

Baldac. Commonplace 12. 

Explained by Villani, in a quotation from whom the name 
occurs, as "the city of Baldac, which anciently was called the 
great Babylon" {Hist. Florence 6. 60), that is, the modern 
Bagdad, on the Tigris, which was formerly identified with 
Babylon. 

Balearicus. Nat. Non 59. 

Pertaining to the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean, east 
of Spain. 

Balesham Hills (Gogmagog Hills). Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 250. 

Hills near Cambridge of which Camden says: "Near to Cam- 
bridge to the southeast are high hills called by the students 
Gogmagog hills; by Henry of Huntington 'the pleasant hills of 
Balsham' from the village below." (2. 125.) Milton must 
often have seen these hills when at Cambridge. 

Balkh. See Bactra. 

Balsara. P. R. 3. 321. (See also Teredon.) 

Bassora, a city of Asiatic Turkey, on the west bank of the 
Chatt-el-Arab, or united Tigris and Euphrates. It is now a 
port of importance, though inferior to the city of the time of 
Milton, which numbered perhaps 200,000 inhabitants. {Geog- 
raphie Universelle, s. v.) The city was not built at the time of 
the action of P. R., for it was founded by the CaHph Omar in 
636 A. D. However, in Milton's time it was identified with 
ancient Teredon; for example, Ortelius gives the name "Balsara, 
olim Teredon." (P. 103, map.) It is so far to the south that 
"to Balsara's hav'n" corresponds with "to South the Persian 
Bay" (P. R. 3. 273) in the description of the bounds of Assyria. 
The following describes the journey, late in the sixteenth century, 
of John Eldred down the Tigris from Bagdad to Balsara: "We 
departed in flat bottomed barks more strong and greater then 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 47 

those of Euphrates, and were eight and twenty dayes also in 
passing down this river to Balsara, but we might have done it 
in eighteen or lesse, if the water had bene higher. . . . Before 
we come to Balsara by one dayes journey, the two rivers of 
Tigris and Euphrates meet. . . . The two rivers joyned together 
begin to be eight or nine miles broad: here also it beginneth to 
ebbe and flow, and the water overflowing maketh the countrey 
all about very fertile of corne, rice, pulse, and dates. The town 
of Balsara is a mile and a halfe in circuit: all the buildings, castle, 
and walls, are made of bricke dried in the Sun. The Turke hath 
here five hundred Janisaries, besides other souldiers continually 
in garison and pay, but his chiefe strength is of gallies, which are 
about five and twenty or thirty, very faire and furnished with 
goodly ordinance. To this port of Balsara come monethly divers 
ships from Ormuz, laden with all sorts of Indian marchandise, 
as spices, drugs, Indico and Calecut cloth. These ships are 
usually from forty to threescore tunnes, having their planks 
sowed together with corde made of the barke of the Date trees, 
and in stead of Occam they use the shiverings of the barke of the 
sayd trees, and of the same they make their tackling. They 
have no kinde of yron worke belonging to these vessels, save only 
their ankers. From this place six dayes sailing downe the gulfe, 
they go to a place called Baharem in the mid way to Ormus; 
there they fish for pearles. . . . My abode in Balsara was just 
sixe moneths . , . I and my companion William Shales having 
dispatched our business at Balsara, imbarked our selves in com- 
pany of seventy barks all laden with marchandise, having every 
barke 14 men to draw them, like our Westerne bargemen on the 
Thames, and we were forty foure dayes comming up against the 
stream to Babylon." (Hak. 2. 1. 270.) Cf. Marlowe: 

And this is Balsera their chiefest hold, 

Wherein is all the treasure of the land. (2 Tamburlaine 3351-2.) 

Baltic (Balticum Mare). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 202; Lit. Oliv. (36) 

7. 282; Lit. Rich. (4) 7. 336; (6) 7. 337, 338; Moscovia (1) 

8. 476; Sixteen Let. 14. 
The Baltic Sea. 

Balticum Fretum. Lit. Oliv. (21) 7. 263 (twice). 

The straits leading from the Baltic to the North Sea. 



48 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Bamborrow. See Bebbanburg, 
Bampton. See Beandune. 
Banbury. See Beranvirig. 

Banda. Lit. Senat. (45) 7. 236. (See also Amboyna, Pularonis 

Insula, Ternate.) 

A group of the Moluccas or Spice Islands, in the East Indies. 
They were the scene of rivalry between the English and the 
Dutch traders in the early part of the seventeenth century. 

Bangor. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 142, 143; MS. 2. 113. 

A famous monastery once situated at what is now the town of 
Bangor-is-Coed, Flintshire. (Bede 2. 2.) 

Banias. See Paneas. 

Bantamus. Lit. Senat. (45) 7. 235. 

A seaport on the north coast of the Island of Java. 

Bara. Decl. Poland 8. 466. 

The city of Bar in Podolia, Poland, on a southern tributary 
of the Bug. 

Baram Down. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 34. 

Mentioned by Camden in connection with Deal, the landing- 
place of Caesar in Kent, as "a neighboring plain fit for horse." 

Barbados. Contra Hisp. 7. 360. 

The most westerly of the Windward Islands, in the West Indies. 
Barbury. See Beranvirig. 

Barca. P. L. 2. 904. (See also Cyrene.) 

The district of North Africa between the Gulf of Sidra and 
Tunis. Leo Africanus describes the desert of Barca as follows: 
"This desert beginning at the utmost frontier of Mestrata, and 
extending eastward as farre as the confines of Alexandria, con- 
taineth in length a thousand and three hundred and in bredth 
about two hundred miles. It is a rough and unpleasant place, 
being almost utterly destitute of water and corne. Before the 
Arabians invaded Africa, this region was void of inhabitants, 
but now certaine Arabians lead here a miserable and hungrie life, 
being a great way distant from all places of habitation: neither 
have they any corne growing at all. But corne and other 
necessaries are brought unto them by sea from Sicilia, which 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 49 

that everie of them may purchase, they are constrained to lay their 
sonnes to gage, and then goe rob and rifle travellers to redeeme 
them againe." (Pp. 775-6.) 

Barcham. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 299. 

Identified with Great Berkhamstead, Herts, and also with 
Berstead, Kent. 

Barking. Lit. Oliv. (25) 7. 268. 

A town of Essex on the river Roding. 

Barkshire (Berkshire). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 198, 200, 211; (6) 5. 
247. 
A county of England, south of the Thames. 

Barnwell. See Barwellianus. 

Barwellianus. 7 Prolus. 7. 449. (See also Sturbridge.) 

Barnwell was the name of a priory within the limits of the 
town of Cambridge, England. The Eastern or Barnwell Fields 
included the land belonging to the town of Cambridge east of 
the old walled town, and south of the River Cam. In the time 
of Milton they were not fully enclosed, and consisted partly of 
common lands. The most northern portion of these fields was 
known as Sturbridge Field. 

Basan. P. L. 1. 398. 

Bashan (Vulgate, Basan) is a tract of country on the east 
side of the Jordan Valley, stretching from the River Yarmuk on 
the south toward Mount Hermon on the north. It is usually 
spoken of in the Old Testament in connection with Og, King of 
Bashan, whom the children of Israel defeated and deprived of 
his land. (Deuteronomy 3. 1-13.) Apparently the only Scrip- 
tural reason for connecting Bashan with the Ammonites, as does 
Milton, is to be found in that passage. 

Basel. See Basil. 

Bashan. See Basan. 

Basil. Eikonocl. (28) 3. 521; Bucer- Divorce (Pari.) 4. 295; 

Pro Se Defens. 6. 396 (twice). 

Basel, a city of Switzerland, on the Rhine, where was held a 
great council of the Church (1431-49). It early sided with the 



50 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Refdrmation, and was long noted as a centre of literary activity, 
being, in the words of Milton, "a City for Learning and Con- 
stancy in the true Faith, honorable among the first." 

Basing. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 201. 

A town in Hampshire. {Chronicle 871.) 

Bassora. See Balsara. 

Batavia. See United Provinces. 

Bath (Badencester, Caerbadus). Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 16; (3) 5. 134; 

(5) 5. 233; (6) 5. 253; Commonplace 74, 109, 150, 191. 

A town in Somersetshire, on the River Avon, famous for its 
medicinal springs. 

Batow. See Batto. 

Battle -Bridge. See Stamford Bridge. 

Batto. Decl. Poland 8. 465. 

Batowitz, or Batow, a place on the River Bug in Lower 
Volhinia, Poland. 

Bavaria (Noricum). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 227 (twice); Common- 
place 109. 
A state in southern Germany. Part of its territory was 

included in the Roman province of Noricum, with which Milton 

identifies it. 

Bayona. Lycidas 162. (See also Guarded Mount, Namancos.) 
A seaport of southwestern Galicia, Spain. On a high hill is 
the fortress of Bayona, or Castle of Montereal. Bayona is 
south of Cape Finisterre, which interrupts direct vision from 
"the guarded Mount" to Bayona. However, Porthcurno, near 
the "Mount," is the point of departure of a submarine cable to 
Vigo, a town on the same arm of the sea as Bayona. Bayona 
had been brought to the attention of Englishmen by the expedi- 
tions of Sir Francis Drake against Spain. An account of the 
expedition of 1589 runs as follows: "The reasons why we at- 
tempted nothing against Bayon were before shewed to be want 
of artillery, and may now be alleged to be the small number of 
our men, who should have gone against so strong a place, manned 
with very good souldiers, as was shewed by Juan de Vera taken 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 51 

at the Groine, who confessed that there were sixe hundred olde 
Souldiers in garrison there of Flanders, and the Tercios of 
Naples, lately also returned out of the journey of England. . . . 
Also he sayth there be 18 pieces of brasse, and foure of yron 
lately layed upon the walls of the towne, besides them that were 
there before." (Hak. 2. 2. 150.) The Isles of Bayona, not far 
from the fortress, are also frequently mentioned in narratives 
of expeditions to Spain. There was much English commerce 
with Bayona. 

Bayonne. See Bajona. 

Bealozera. Moscovia (1) 8. 474. 

Bjeloje Osero, a lake of the province of Novgorod, Russia. 
Milton, as he indicates by notes, learned of this lake from the 
following: "This river [Volga] taketh his beginning at Beal 
Ozera." (Hak. 1. 377). "Besides these rivers, are also in 
Moscovie certaine lakes, and amongst them all the chiefest and 
most principall is called Bealozera, which is very famous by 
reason of a very strong towre built in it, where the kings of 
Moscovia reserve and repose their treasure in all time of warre 
and danger." (Hak. 1. 248.) 

Beamflet. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 208. 
Benflet, Essex. 

Beandune (Bindon). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 145. 

Usually identified with Bampton, Oxfordshire. In identifying 
it with Bindon, Dorsetshire, Milton follows Camden (1. 44), to 
whom he refers in a note. 

Bebba. See Bebbanburg. 

Bebbanburg (Bamborrow). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 128; (4) 5. 159, 
177; (6) 5. 242, 257. 
Bamborough, a castle on the coast of Northumberland. 

Bedanford. See Bedford. 

Bedanhafde. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 163. 
Bedwin, Wiltshire. 

Bedecanwillan. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 219. (See also Pictland.) 

Bakewell in Derbyshire, "on a rivulet which opens itself a 
way among the hills into the Derwent." (Camden 2. 303.) 



52 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

1. Bedford (Bedanford). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 134; (5) 5. 217 (thrice). 
The chief town cif Bedfordshire, on the River Ouse. 

2. Bedford. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 250. 

A county of England east of Buckinghamshire. 

Bedwln. See Bedanhafde. 

Beersaba. P. L. 3. 536. 

A town of southern Palestine, often used to indicate the 
southern Hmit of the country. (Judges 20, 1, et al.) 

Beianus. 2 Defens. 6. 256. 

Pertaining to Baiae, a city of Campania, noted for the hcen- 
tiousness of its inhabitants. 

Belfast. Ormond 4. 555 (twice), 567 (twice), 568, 571, 580 

(twice). 

The capital of County Antrim, in northeastern Ireland. A 
rampart was raised around the town in 1643. In 1662 there 
were within the wall one hundred and fifty houses. {Encyclo- 
pcsdia Britannica, eleventh edition.) 

Belgia (Belgium). See Netherlands. 

Bella-Insula. Sixteen Let. 2 (twice). 

Belle-Isle-en-Mer, an island off the south coast of Brittany, 
France. 

Belle-Isle. See Bella-Insula. 

Bellerus, Fable of. Lycidas 160. (See also Langoemagog.) 

Bellerium is the Latin name of Land's End, England. Bellerus 
is usually supposed to be an eponymous hero invented by Milton 
to explain the name Bellerium. The phrase, ' ' fable of Bellerus, 
would then apply to the land with which the story of Bellerus dealt. 

Benflet. See Beamfiet. 

Bengala. P. L. 2. 638. 

Davity writes of Bengal in glowing terms, saying that it is 
a great kingdom containing many cities, that the city of Bengal 
is one of the largest and most beautiful in the Indies, and that 
the country produces abundantly all things necessary to human 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 53 

life, and has an excellent climate. (Pp. 910-11.) InHakluytwe 
read of Bengala: "In this place is very much Rice, and cloth 
made of cotton, and great store of cloth which is made of grasse, 
which they call Yerva; it is like a silke. (2. 1. 257.) 

Benson (Besington). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 134; (4) 5. 177. 
A town of Oxfordshire. 

Beorford. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 174, 175. 
Burford, Oxfordshire. 

Beranvirig (Banbury). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 128. 

Milton identifies this place with Banbury in Oxfordshire. 
Camden, to whom he refers in a note, makes a different iden- 
tification: "Upon Barbury hill, the next ridge overlooking the 
north part of Wilts, is another camp called Barbury castle, . . . 
round, double-ditched, the inner ditch very deep, the rampart 
high, entrances east and west, defended by half-moons, the 
inner rampart at the west entrance retiring inwards a little, as 
the outer ditch at the east, turning round with a semi-circular 
sweep. This great fortification, the barrows on the adjoining 
plains, and the similitude of names, seem to point out this place 
as the scene of the battle in which Cenric king of the West Saxons 
and his son Ceaulin defeated the Britans, A. D. 556. The modern 
name comes much nearer to Beranbyrig than Banbury in Oxford, 
where this battle has been fixed." (1. 112.) Camden's opinion 
is at present accepted. {Two Chr. 2. 15.) 

Berga. Sixteen Let. 5. 

Bergues, a town of northern France, southeast of Dunkirk, 
in Milton's day part of the Spanish Netherlands. 

Bergamo. See Bergomum. 

Bergomum. Commonplace 242. 

Now Bergamo, a city of Italy twenty-eight miles northeast of 
Milan. 

Bergues. See Berga. 

Berkshire. See Barkshire. 

Bern. Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 281; Rami Vita 7. 183. 
The chief city of the canton of Bern, Switzerland. 



54 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Bernicia. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 128, 129, 134; (4) 5. 146, 153; MS. 

2. 113. 

One of the divisions of Anglo-Saxon Britain, defined by Camden 
as that part of the kingdom of Northumberland extending "from 
the Tine to the Firth of Edenborough." (3. 2.) 

Bernwood. See Birnwud. 

Berstead. See Barcham. 

Besington. See Benson. 

Bethabara (Ford of Jordan). P. R. 1. 184, 328; 2. 20; 4. 510. 

The scene of the baptism of Jesus by John, in the River 
Jordan. (John 1. 28.) It is placed by tradition at the ford of 
Makhadet Hajla. Adrichomius, who assigns it to the territory 
of the tribe of Reuben, says the word means house of crossing, 
"either because there, when the river had been dried up, the 
Israelites crossed over into Canaan, or because there was a ford 
of the Jordan." (P. 126.) Milton seems to have accepted the 
latter interpretation, for he twice refers to John as baptising at 
the "Ford of Jordan." (P. R. 1. 328; 4. 510.) 

Bethany. Areopag. 4. 432. 

A village of Palestine, a short distance southeast of Jerusalem, 
on the road to Jericho. (Mark 11. 12-14.) 

Bethel (Luz). P. L. 1. 485; 3. 513; P. R. 3. 431; Reformation 
(2) 3. 35; Eikonocl. (24) 3. 491 (twice); HireHngs 5. 352; 
MS. 2. 110. 

A town of Palestine twelve miles north of Jerusalem; also 
called Luz. Here Jacob had the vision of the angels ascending 
and descending upon a ladder reaching up to heaven, and vowed 
the tenth of his substance to God. (Genesis 28. 11-22.) Milton 
describes the dream of Jacob in P. L. 3. 510-515. Here, too, 
Jeroboam set up a golden calf which Israel worshipped, (i 
Kings 12. 28-9.) Amaziah, the sycophantish priest, belonged 
to the shrine at Bethel. (Amos 7. 10-13.) 

Bethesda. Colast. 4. 347. 

A pool in Jerusalem by which the impotent, blind, halt, 
and withered lay, until an angel moved the waters; the one 
who then first stepped into the pool was healed. The word means 
house of mercy. (John 5. 1-4.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 55 

Bethlehem (Bethleem). Nativity 223; P. R. 1. 243; 2. 78; 

4. 505; Hirelings 5. 366. 

A town of Palestine, some six miles south of Jerusalem. 
Sandys, who visited Bethlehem in 1610, describes it as "seated 
on the utmost of the Ridge of a Hill, stretching East and West, 
in a happy soil, and a most delicate prospect." (P. 137.) The 
references of Milton to Bethlehem all have to do with it as the 
birth-place of Christ, and are all taken from the Scriptures. 

Bethshemesh. Church-gov. (1. 1) 3. 100. 

A town in Palestine, southeast of Jerusalem, to which the Ark 
was brought upon its return from among the Philistines. (1 
Samuel 6.) 

Beverege. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 272. 

An island in the River Severn near Worcester. Milton takes 
his account from Florence of Worcester, (a. d. 1041.) 

Beverstan. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 279. 
Beverstone, Gloucestershire. 

Bindon. See Beandune. 

Birnwud. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 217. 

Bernwood Forest, Buckinghamshire, on a plain overlooked 
by the Chiltern Hills. (Camden 1. 314.) 

Biscay. Hist. 6rit. (1) 5. 23. 

One of the Basque provinces of Spain, bordering on the Bay 
of Biscay. 

Biserta. P. L. 1. 585. 

A seaport of Tunis, formerly of much more importance than 
at present. Ariosto describes the position of the town as follows: 

Biserta hath this manner situation, 
Two parts thereof with water are enclosed, 
Two parts with goodly wall of ancient fashion, 
But not so strong as one would have supposed. 

{Orl. Fur. 40. 14.) 
He tells how Orlando planned 

so to raze Biserta towne, 
That it might never noy th' Imperial! crowne. 

{Orl. Fur. 40. 8.) 



56 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

These lines suggest the use of Biserta as a place of embarkation 
for an army going to France, as is related in Orlando Innamorato 
2. 29. 1-22, where Boiardo tells at length of the size of the host 
of Saracens that set out for France. 

Bituminous Lake. See Asphaltic Pool. 

Bizance (Byzantinus, Constantinople). P. L. 11. 395; Animadv. 

(16. 148) 3. 241; 1 Defens. (4) 6. 90; Lit. Oliv. (17) 7. 258; 

(57) 7. 306; Moscovia (4) 8. 488; Commonplace 112, 249. 

Byzantium, since the time of Constantine called Constanti- 
nople. Sandys, who in 1610 spent four months in the city, gives 
a long description of it, illustrated by many pictures, part of which 
is as follows: "This city by destiny appointed, and by nature 
seated for Soveraignty, was first the seat of the Roman Emperors, 
then of the Greek, as now it is of the Turkish. ... It stands on 
a Cape of Land near the entrance of the Bosphorus. In form 
triangular, on the East-side washed with the same, and on the 
North-side with the Haven, adjoyning on the West to the 
Continent. Walled with brick and stone, intermixed orderly; 
having four and twenty Gates and Posterns, whereof five do 
regard the Land, and nineteen the Water; being about thirteen 
miles in circumference. Than this there is hardly in nature a 
more delicate object, if beheld from the Sea or adjoyning moun- 
tains; the lofty and beautiful Cypress Trees so intermixed with 
the buildings, that it seemeth to present a City in a Wood to the 
pleased beholders. Whose seven aspiring heads, for on so many 
hills and no more, they say it is seated, are most of them crowned 
with magnificent Mosques, all of white Marble, round in form, 
and coupled above; being finished on the top with gilded spires, 
that reflect the beams they receive with a marvellous splendour; 
some having two, some four, some six adjoyning Turrets, exceed- 
ing high, and exceeding slender, tarrast aloft on the out-side 
like the main top of a Ship and that in several places equally 
distant. . . . But that of Sancta Sophia, once a Christian 
Temple, twice burnt, and happily, in that so sumptuously re- 
edified by the Emperor Justinian, exceedeth not only the rest, 
by whose pattern they were framed, but all other Fabricks 
whatsoever, throughout the whole Universe. A long labour it 
were to describe it exactly, and having done, my eyes that have 
seen it would but condemn my defective relation. The principal 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 57 

part thereof riseth in an oval, surrounded with Pillars, admirable 
for their proportion, matter, and work-man-ship. Over those 
others, thorough which ample Galleries, curiously paved, and 
arched above, have their prospect into the Temple. . . . The 
Roof compact and adorned with Mosaick painting. An antique 
kind of work, composed of little square pieces of Marble, guilded 
and coloured according to the place that they are to assume in the 
figure or ground, which set together as if imbossed present an 
unexpressible stateliness, and are of marvellous durance, num- 
bered by Pancirollus amongst things that are lost. . . . Sophia 
is frequented by the Sultan, being near unto the fore-front of 
his Seraglio, which possesseth the extreamest point of the North- 
East Angle, . . . divided from the rest of the City by a lofty 
Wall, containing three miles in circuit, and comprehending goodly 
Groves of Cypresses intermixed with Plains, delicate Gardens, 
artificial Fountains, all variety of Fruit-trees, and what not rare? 
Luxury being the steward, and the Treasure unexhaustible. 
The proud palace of the Tyrant doth open to the South, having 
a lofty Gate-house without Lights on the outside, and engraven 
with Arabick Characters, set forth with Gold and Azure, all of 
white Marble. This leadeth into a spacious Court three hundred 
yards long, and above half as wide. On the left side thereof, 
stands the Round of an ancient Chappel, containing the Arms 
that were taken from the Grecians in the subversion of this 
City; and at the far end of his Court a second Gate, hung with 
Shields and Cymiters, doth lead into another full of tall Cypress- 
trees, less large, yet not by much than the former. The cloisters 
about it leaded above, and paved with stone, the Roof supported 
with Columns of Marble, having Copper Chapiters and Bases. 
. . . Between the East-wall, which also serveth for a Wall to 
the City, and the water, a sort of terrible Ordnance are planted, 
which threaten destruction to such as by Sea shall attempt a 
violent entry or prohibited passage." (Pp. 23-5.) The haven 
is, says Sandys, "throughout the world the fairest, the safest, 
the most profitable." (P. 29.) 

Bjeloje Osero. See Bealozera. 

Blackmoor Sea. P. R. 4. 72. 

The part of the Mediterranean bordering on Mauritania, the 
land of the Moors or Blackamoors. It is called Africum Pelagus 



58 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

by Ortelius. (Parergon, p. 22.) Jerram in his edition of P. R. 
refers to Horace (Odes 2. 6. 3), where this part of the Mediter- 
ranean is called "Maura unda." 

Blois. Ormond 4. 559, 564; Commonplace 182, 183. 
A city of France on the Loire. 

Bocchus, Realme of (Mauretania, Mauritanus, Maurusius). 

Ad Patrem 40; P. R. 4. 72; Bucer: Divorce (15) 4. 317; 

Contra Hisp. 7. 352; Epist. Fam. (20) 7. 398. (See also 

Almansor.) 

Bocchus was king of Mauretania, that part of north Africa 
bounded on the north by the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, 
and on the east by the River Ampsaga, which divided it from 
Numidia; it is now Morocco and western Algeria. When the 
region became a Roman province the eastern part was called 
Mauretinia Csesariensis. The region is the same as that which 
Milton elsewhere refers to as "the Kingdoms of Almansor." 
Bocchus is a prominent character in the Jugurtha of Sallust. 

Bodotria. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 67, 68 (twice). (See also Dun- 

britton.) 

The Firth of Forth. It is called Bodotria by Tacitus. {Agri- 
cola, Sect. 23.) 

Boeotia. Grammar (2) 6. 480. (See also Aonian.) 
The division of Greece north of Attica. 

Boghar. Moscovia (3) 8. 486, 487. (See also Bactra.) 

Bokara, capital of the country of the same name in central 
Asia. Jenkinson writes: "We arrived at the citie of Boghar in 
the land of Bactria. The Citie is very great, and the houses 
for the most part of earth, but there are also many houses, 
temples, and monuments of stone sumptuously builded, and gilt, 
and specially bath stoves so artificially built, that the like thereof 
is not in the world. . . . This Countrey of Boghar was sometime 
subject to the Persians, and do now speake the Persian tongue, 
but yet now it is a kingdome of itselfe. . . . There is yerely 
great resort of Marchants to this Citie of Boghar, which travaile 
in great Caravans from the countries thereabout adjoining, as 
India, Balgh, Russia, with divers others, and in times past from 
Cathay." (Hak. 1. 331.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 59 

Bohemia. Eikonocl. (17) 3. 464; 1 Defens. (1) 6. 22. 

An ancient kingdom, now part of the Czecho-Slovak state. 

Bokara. See Boghar. 

Bologna. See Bononia. 

Boloigne (Bononiensis Portus, Gessoriacum) . Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 
82, 84, 86, 87; (6) 5. 278; Lit. Rich. (11) 7. 342. 
Boulogne, the Roman Gessoriacum, a port of France. 

Bononia. 2 Defens. 6. 289; Rami Vita 7. 183, 185. 

Bologna (Latin, Bononia), a city of Tuscany, famous for its 
university. 

Bononiensis Pontus. See Boloigne. 

Bordeaux. See Burdeaux. 

Boristhenes. Moscovia (4) 8. 489, 492. 

Now usually called Dnieper, a river of western Russia flowing 
into the Black Sea. 

Borussia. See Prussia. 

Boscham. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 289. 
A seaport of Sussex, England. 

Bosporus. P. L. 2. 1018. (See also Justling Rocks.) 

The strait connecting the Sea of Marmora and the Black Sea. 
Dionysius Periegetes (11. 142-3) calls it the "narrowest of all 
the straits of the stormy sea." 

Boston. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 199. 

A seaport of Lincolnshire, on the River Witham. 

Boulogne. See Boloigne. 

Bourne. See Brunne. 

Braclavia. Decl. Poland 8. 462. 

A part of Poland lying between the Dniester and the Bug. 
The name survives in that of the city of Braclaw. 

Bradford (Bradanford). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 157. 

Camden, to whom Milton refers in the text, writes: "The 
Avon . . . washes Bradford, antiently called from its broad 



60 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

ford Bradanford, situate on the slope of a hill, and built intirely 
of stone, where Kenilwalch, king of the West Saxons, fought a 
bloody battle with his kinsman Cuthred. Here the Avon takes 
its leave of Wilts, and enters Somersetshire." (1. 89.) Cam- 
den's identification is now accepted. {Two Chr. 2. 24.) 

Brandenburg (Brandenburgicus Ducatus). Lit. Oliv. (20) 7. 

262; Decl. Poland 8. 468. 

A dukedom of Germany, corresponding in part to the present 
Prussian province of Brandenburg. 

Branford. See Brentford. 

Brasil. Animadv. (3. 37) 3. 213; Lit. Oliv. (23) 7. 265; (28) 
7. 271; (41) 7. 287, 288 (twice); Lit. Rich. (10) 7. 341; Six- 
teen Let. 13. 
In Milton's time a Portuguese possession. 

Brecknock. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 216. (See also Bricnam-Mere.) 
The capital of Brecknockshire, Wales, on the Usk. 

Bremensis Civitas (Brema). Lit. Oliv. (5) 7. 242; (6) 7. 243. 

Bremen, the German state whose capital is Bremen, on the 
Weser. 

Brentford (Branford). Eikonocl. (18) 3. 469; Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 

259, 260; MS. 2. 114. 

A village of Middlesex, England, at the junction of the Brent 
with the Thames. It was sacked by Prince Rupert in 1642. 

Brestensis Portus (Brivatis). Lit. Oliv. (50) 7. 300. 
Brest, a port of Brittany, France. 

Bricnam-Mere. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 216. (See also Brecknock.) 
Camden, to whom Milton refers in a note, writes: "Two 
miles east from hence (Brecknock) a lake spreads itself. . . . The 
English call it Brecknock-mere. It is two miles long, and about 
as many broad. . . . Marianus Scotus seems to call this lake 
Bricenau-mere, when he relates that Edelfleda .the Mercian, 
A. D. 913, entered the country of the Britons to take the castle 
at Bricenaumere, where she made the wife of the British king 
prisoner. Whether this castle was Brecknocke itselfe or Castle 
Dinas, which commands this lake on a rock tapering as it rises 
is by no means clear." (2. 470.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 61 

Bridgenorth. See Quatbrig. 

Bridge -Street. Apology (6) 3. 293; (8) 3. 297. 

Referred to as a street in heaven by Bishop Hall in his Satires 
2. 7. 36. He took the name from a street in Cambridge. 

Bristol. See Bristow. 

Bristow (Eristow). Eikonocl. (18) 3. 469; Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 281, 
287. 
Bristol, in Gloucestershire, on the Avon. 

Britain (Albion, Britannia, Samothea). Comus 27; Eleg. 1. 71; 
Pra?sul. El. 9; Ad. Rous. 8; 1 Prod. Bomb. 1 ; 3 Prod. Bomb. 5; 
Quint. Nov. 96, 202; Mansus 84; Damon. 165; Sonnet 18. 2; 
P. L. 1. 581; P. R. 4. 77; Church-gov. (2. Pref.) 3. 145; 
Eikonocl. (1) 3. 343; (28) 3. 521; Areopag. 4. 437; Kings 
& Mag. 4. 473; Ormond 4. 557; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 4 (4 times), 
5, 6, 8, 12 (twice), 20, 21, 22; (2) 5. 30 (twice), 31 (4 times), 
32, 42, 46, 47 (twice), 50, 52, 53, 57, 66, 67 (twice), 69, 72 
(twice), 73 (thrice), 74, 76, 77, 80 (twice), 81, 82, 84, 85, 87, 
88 (twice), 89 (4 times), 90, 92, 93; (3) 5. 100, 101, 103 
(twice), 110 (twice), 115, 119, 120, 121, 127, 133, 135; (4) 5. 
141 (twice), 181; (5) 5. 220; Hirelings 5. 376; 1 Defens. (1) 6. 
15; (5) 6. 114; (8) 6. 139, 140, 149; 2 Defens. 6. 249,301, 
318; Epist. Fam. (10) 7. 386; Moscovia (Pref.) 8. 470; 
Commonplace 245. (See also Utmost Isles.) 

Britain in France. See Armorica. 

Britannia. See Britain. 

Brittenburgh. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 115. 

An ancient fortress described by Ussher as a Roman work at 
the mouth of the Rhine. {Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- 
quitates, pp. 418 ff.) Milton, as he indicates in a note, took his 
description from Ussher. 

Brivatis. See Brestensis. 

Bruges. Tenure 4. 487; Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 271 (twice); Lit. 
Senat. (41) 7. 231. 
A city of Belgium. 

Brunanburg (Bruneford, Wendune). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 220, 223, 
224. (See also Glendale.) 



62 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

The site of the famous battle of Brunanburh is unknown . ( Two 
Chr. 2. 140.) It is called also Wendune and Bruneford. 

Bruneford. See Brunanburg. 

Brunne. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 199. 
Bourne, a town of Lincolnshire. 

Brussels. See Bruxellae. 

Bruxellae. Lit. Senat. (9) 7. 195. 
Brussels, the capital of Belgium. 

1. Buckingham. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 217. 
The chief town of Buckinghamshire. 

2. Buckingham. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 250. 

A county of England bounded on the north by Northampton, 
on the east by Bedford, Hertford, and Middlesex, on the south 
by Berkshire, on the west by Oxfordshire. The Thames flows 
along the southern side of the county. In this county, Milton 
lived at Horton from 1632 to 1638, and at Chalfont St. Giles in 
1665-6. ' 

Buelth. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 119. 

Builth, in Brecknockshire, on the Wye. 

Bug. See Hypanis. 

Builth. See Buelth. 

Bulendun. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 284. 
An unidentified place. 

Burdeaux (Bordeaux, Burdegala). Animadv. (13. 76) 3. 225; 

Lit. Oliv. (18) 7. 260; (50) 7. 300, 301. 

A city of southwestern France, on the Garonne. It was 
famous for its varnish, hence Milton's reference to a "Burdeaux 
glosse." Vizards, which he proceeds to mention, were often 
varnished. Compare the following from Shelton's translation 
of Don Quixote: "Hee pulled out a pasted nose, and a varnisht 
vizard." (Part 2, Chap. 14.) 

Burdegala. See Burdeaux. 

Burford. See Beorford. 

Burgondy. See Burgundie. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 63 

Burgundie (Burgondy). Eikonocl. (21) 3. 483 (twice), 484; 

Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 83. 

Formerly an independent kingdom, with its capital at Dijon, 
later a province of eastern France. 

Bury. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 195; (6) 5. 253, 265. 
Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk. 

Buttingtun. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 208. 

A town on the Severn in Montgomeryshire. 

Byzantium. See Bizance. 

Caerbadus. See Bath 

Caer-Caradoc. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 53. 

Milton refers to Camden, who writes as follows of the River 
Clun, Shropshire: "Where it joins the Temd, among uncertain 
shallows rises a hill famous in ancient times, called Caer Caradoc, 
because about A. D. 53, Caratacus the renowned British king 
fortified it with a rampart of stone, and held it out obstinately 
with his subjects against Ostorius and the Roman legions." 
(2. 395.) 

Caerebranc. See York. 
Caerguent. See Winchester. 
Caerkeynt. See Canterbury. 
Caerlegion. See Caerleon. 
Caer-Legion. See Chester. 
Caerleir. See Leicester. 

Caerleon (Caerlegion, Caerose). Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 22, 23; (2) 

5. 84. 

Caerleon-upon-Usk, in Monmouthshire, England, famous as 
the capital city of King Arthur. Milton's information is from 
Geoffrey of Monmouth. (3. 10.) 
Caerlud. See London. 



Caerose. See Caerlegion. 
CaBsarea. Church-gov. (2.3) 3. 164. 

A seaport of Palestine. 
Caesarea Philippi. See Paneas. 



64 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Cairleil. See Carlile. 
Cairo, See Memphis. 
Caithness. See Cathness. 
Calabria. P. L. 2. 661. 

The southwest peninsula of Italy, extending toward Sicily. 
Calater (Calaterium). Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 21, 24. 

A forest which Holinshed says is "neare unto Yorke" (3. 7), 
and also puts in Scotland. (3. 2.) 

Caledonius. See Scotland. 

1. Cales. P. R. 4. 117. 

A city of Campania, now called Calvi, the territory of which 
adjoined the celebrated ""Falernus ager," and was, like it, famous 
for its wine. Horace mentions the wine of Cales. {Odes 1. 20. 
9, etc.) 

2. Cales, See Gades. 

Cain. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 238. 
Calne, Wiltshire. 

Calvi. See 1. Cales. 

Cam. See Camus. 

Cama. Moscovia (1) 8. 475. (See also Nagay.) 

A river of Russia, one of the largest tributaries of the Volga. 
In describing his journey down the Volga from Cazan, Jenkinson 
says: "We passed by a goodly river called Cama, which we left 
on our left hand. This river falleth out of the countrey of Permia 
into the river of Volga, and' is from Cazan 15 leagues." (Hak. 
1. 325.) 

Camalodunum (Colchester, Colnchester) . Fairfax, Title; Hist. 

Brit. (2) 5. 47, 50, 52, 58, 59 (twice), 84; (5) 5. 218. (See also 

Maldon.) 

Colchester, a town of Essex on the River Colne. In identifying 
it with Maldon Milton seems to be following Camden, who 
writes: "The Chelmer, . . . changing its name to Blackwater 
or Pant, visits the antient Roman colony of Camalodunum, 
which has made this shore famous. ... In tracing this city how 
some writers have betrayed their ignorance, when its name 
discovers it to the blindest observer. Many have sought it . . . 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 65 

at Colchester, when, with scarce any alteration in the name, it is 
now called Maldon." (2. 44.) Colchester was besieged by- 
Fairfax from June 15 to August 28, 1648, when the town fell. 

Cambalu (Cathaia, Paquin). P. L. 11. 388, 390; Moscovia (3) 8. 

487. (See also Cathay.) 

Cambalu is an alternative name for Pekin, the capital of China. 
It is the same as the city of Cathaia, described in Moscovia. So 
long as Cathay and China were supposed to be separate countries, 
instead of the same country under two names, Cambalu was 
believed to be the capital of Cathay, and Paquin of China. 
Milton's lines preserve for us the belief that Cambalu and Paquin 
were distinct. Yet before the date of Paradise Lost some Eng- 
lishmen knew that the two were one; for example. Bacon writes 
in the New Atlantis, a work known to Milton: "Paguin (which 
is the same with Cambaline [Cambalu])." 

Marco Polo tells of Cambalu as follows : ' ' Now there was on 
that spot in old times a great and noble city called Cambaluc, 
which is as much as to say in our tongue 'The City of the 
Emperor.' But the Great Kaan . . . caused the present city 
to be built beside the old one, with only a river between them. 
... As regards the size of this (new) city you must know that 
it has a compass of 24 miles, for each side of it hath a length of 
6 miles, and it is four-square. And it is all walled round with 
walls of earth which have a thickness of full ten paces at bottom, 
and a height of more than 10 paces; but they are not so thick 
at top, for they diminish in thickness as they rise, so that at top 
they are only about 3 paces thick. And they are provided 
throughout with loop-holed battlements, which are all white- 
washed. There are 12 gates, and over each gate there is a great 
and handsome palace, so that there are on each side of the square 
three gates and five palaces; for (I ought to mention) there is at 
each angle also a great and handsome palace. In these palaces 
are vast halls in which are kept the arms of the city garrison. 
The streets are so straight and wide that you can see right along 
them from end to end and from one gate to the other. And up 
and down the city there are beautiful palaces, and many great 
and fine hostelries, and fine houses in great numbers. . . . 
Moreover the established guard at each gate of the city is 1000 
armed men; not that you are to imagine this guard is kept up 



66 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

for fear of any attack, but only as a guard of honor for the 
Sovereign, who resides there, and to prevent thieves from doing 
mischief in the town. . . . You must know that the city of 
Cambaluc hath such a multitude of houses, and such a vast 
population inside the walls and outside, that it seems quite past 
all possibility. There is a suburb outside each of the gates, 
which are twelve in number; and these suburbs are so great that 
they contain more people than the city itself. ... To this 
city also are brought articles of greater cost and rarity, and in 
greater abundance of all kinds, than to any other city in the 
world. For people of every description, and from every region, 
bring things (including all the costly wares of India, as well as 
the fine and precious wares of Cathay itself with its provinces), 
some for the sovereign, some for the court, some for the city 
which is so great, some for the crowds of Barons and Knights, 
some for the great hosts of the Emperor which are quartered 
round about; and thus between court and city the quantity 
brought in is endless. As a sample, I tell you, no day in the 
year passes that there do not enter the city 1000 cart-loads of 
silk alone, from which are made quantities of cloth of silk and 
gold, and of other goods. And this is not to be wondered at; 
for in all the countries round about there is no flax, so that 
everything has to be made of silk. It is true, indeed, that in 
some parts of the country there is cotton and hemp, but not 
sufficient for their wants. This, however, is not of much conse- 
quence, because silk is so abundant and cheap, and is a more 
valuable substance than either flax or cotton. Round about this 
great city of Cambaluc there are some 200 other cities at various 
distances, from which traders come to sell their goods and buy 
others for their lords; and all find means to make their sales and 
purchases, so that the traffic of the city is passing great." (Pp. 
374-415.) "You must know that for three months of the year, 
. . . the Great Kaan resides in the capital city of Cathay, which 
is called Cambaluc (and which is at the north-eastern extremity 
of the country). In that city stands his great Palace, and now 
I will tell you what it is like. It is enclosed all round by a great 
wall forming a square, each side of which is a mile in length; 
that is to say, the whole compass thereof is four miles. This 
you may depend on; it is also very thick, and a good ten paces 
in height, whitewashed and loop-holed all round. At each angle 
of the wall there is a very fine and rich palace. . . . Also midway 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 67 

between every two of these Corner Palaces there is another of 
the like. . . . Inside of this wall there is a second. . . . This 
enclosure also has eight palaces corresponding to those of the 
outer wall. ... In the middle of the second enclosure is the 
Lord's Great Palace, and I will tell you what it is like. You 
must know that it is the greatest palace that ever was. , . . The 
roof is very lofty, and the walls of the Palace all covered with 
gold and silver. They are also adorned with representations of 
dragons (sculptured and gilt), beasts and birds, knights and idols, 
and sundry other objects. And on the ceiling too you see nothing 
but gold and silver and painting. . . . The Hall of the Palace 
is so large that it could easily dine 6000 people; and it is quite a 
marvel to see how many rooms there are besides. The building 
is altogether so vast, so rich and so beautiful, that no man on 
earth could design anything superior to it. The outside of the 
roof also is all colored with vermilion and yellow and green and 
blue and other hues, which are fixed with a varnish so fine and 
exquisite that they shine like crystal, and lend a resplendent 
lustre to the Palace as seen for a great way round. . . . More- 
over on the north side of the Palace, about a bow-shot ofif, there 
is a hill which has been made by art, . . . it is a good hundred 
paces in height and a mile in compass. This hill is entirely 
covered with trees that never lose their leaves but remain ever 
green. And I assure you that wherever a beautiful tree may 
exist, and the Emperor gets news of it, he sends for it and has it 
transplanted bodily with all its roots and the earth attached to 
them, and planted on that hill of his. No matter how big the 
tree may be, he gets it carried by his elephants; and in this way 
he has got together the most beautiful collection of trees in all 
the world. And he has also caused the whole hill to be covered 
with the ore of azure, which is very green. And thus not only 
are the trees all green, but the hill itself is all green likewise; 
and there is nothing to be seen on it that is not green; and hence 
it is called the Green Mount; and in good sooth 'tis named well. 
On the top of the hill again there is a fine big palace which is all 
green inside and out; and thus the hill, and the trees, and the 
palace form together a charming spectacle; and it is marvellous 
to see their uniformity of color! Everybody who sees them 
is delighted. And the Great Kaan has caused this beautiful 
prospect to be formed for the comfort and solace and delectation 
of his heart." (Pp. 362-6.) 



68 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Milton's description of Cathaia, or Cambalu, in Moscovia 
is taken from the relations of those Russian travelers whom he 
commends in the Preface. Their report follows: "From this 
white Citie, or Castle, to the greatest Citie of all Cataya, called 
Catay, is two dales journey, where the King himselfe dwelleth. 
It is a very great Citie, built of white stone, foure square, and 
in compasse it is foure days journey; upon every corner thereof 
are very great Towres high built, and white, and alongst the 
wall are very faire and high Towres, likewise white and inter- 
mingled with Blue or Azure, upon the Gates, Wall, and Towres; 
the Loop-holes or Windowes are well furnished with Ordnance, 
and a strong Watch. In the midst of this white Citie standeth a 
Castle built of Magnet, or Loadstone, wherein the King himselfe 
dwelleth, called Tambun; this Castle standeth so in the midst 
of this Citie, that every way you have halfe a dayes going to it 
from the Gates, through the streets which hath stone shoppes 
on both sides with all manner of Merchandizes; upon their 
shops they have their houses built of stone, cunningly painted 
more than the former Cities. The Castle of Magnets is curiously 
set forth with all manner of artificiall and precious devices, in 
the middest whereof standeth the Kings Palace, the top whereof 
is all gilt over with Gold. . . . The Citie of Catay, where the 
King dwelleth, is built upon an even plaine ground, and is in- 
compassed round about with a River called Youga, which falleth 
into the blacke Sea, which is from the Citie Catay seven dayes 
travell, so that there come no ships neerer the City Catay, then 
seven dayes travell off, but all things are transported in small 
Vessels and shipboats. The Merchandizes the King doth send 
into all parts of his Dominions of Catay, and from thence are 
carried over the borders, into the Land of Mugalla, to the King 
Altine, to the blacke Kollmakes, to the Iron King, into Boghar 
and other Dominions. Their Patriarkes and Friers travell with 
the commodities, as Velvets, Sattens, Damaskes, Silver, Leopard 
Skinnes, Turkesses, and blacke Zenders, for which they buy 
Horses and bring them into Catay, for in Catay are but few 
horses, . . . and Cloth they have none. . . . The people are 
very faire but not warlike, timorous and most their endeavor is 
in great and rich traffick." {Pilgrimes 3. 801.) 

A friar who had travelled to Pekm from India by sea writes: 
" Pequin may be called the Mother Citie of the Worlds Monarchie 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 69 

for the wealth, government, greatnesse, justice, provisions. It 
stands in the height of 41 degrees to the North; it contayneth 
in circuit . . . thirtie leagues, ten in length, and five in bredth, 
all which space is environed with two Walls, and innumerable 
Towers and Bulwarkes." {Pilgrimes 3. 272.) 

Cambria. See Wales. 

1. Cambridge (Cantabrigia, Grantbrig, University). Carrier 
8; Sonnet 11. 14; Eleg. 2. Title; Apology 3. 264; Bucer: 
Divorce (Test.) 4. 290 (thrice), 292; (Pari.) 4. 298; Hist. 
Brit. (4) 5. 156; (5) 5. 203, 218; (6) 5. 250; 2 Defens. 6. 284 
(twice), 287; Epist. Fam. (3) 7. 372; (4) 7. 373. 
The seat of the University of Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire. 
Thomas Fuller describes it as follows: "Cambridge is the chief 
credit of the county, as the University is of Cambridge. It is 
confessed that Oxford far exceeds it for sweetnes of situation, and 
yet it may be maintained that though there be better air in 
Oxford, yet there is more in the colleges of Cambridge, for Oxford 
is an university in a town, Cambridge a town in an university, 
where the colleges are not surrounded with the offensive embraces 
of streets, but generally situated on the outside, affording the 
better conveniency of private walks and gardens about them." 
{Worthies 1. 224, ed. 1840.) Camden says: "This city, which is 
the second university, the second eye, and the second support of 
England, famous for being the magazine of religion and learning, 
is situated on the Cam, which after sporting among the islands it 
has formed on its west side, turns east and divides the town into 
two parts, united' by a bridge, whence the modern name Cam- 
bridge arose. Beyond the bridge is a large old castle, which 
seems to have lasted its time, and the college of St. Mary Mag- 
dalen. On this (the eastern) side the bridge, where hes the largest 
part of the town, it makes an handsome appearance by the 
disposition of the streets, the number of the churches, and 16 
beautiful residences of the Muses, or Colleges, in which many 
learned men are supported. . , . Nor is any requisite of a most 
flourishing university wanting here except that the marshiness 
of the situation renders the air less wholesome." (2. 123.) 

The number of dwellings in Cambridge-was less in the time of 
Milton than in 1749, when there were, according to Professor 
Maitland, 1636. He writes: "In the days of Elizabeth and her 



70 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

two next successors there was a scare at Cambridge, as elsewhere, 
about overcrowding. Some minute statistics were collected at 
Cambridge. . . . The outcome is summed up in a document 
written in 1632. . . . The general impressions left upon my mind 
by these curious returns, . . . are that the number of houses 
on a given area had been rapidly increasing during the past sixty 
years." (Township and Borough, pp. 102-5.) Since Milton 
spent seven years at Cambridge, he must have been familiar 
with the town and the surrounding country. 

2. Cambridge. See Cantbrig. 

Cambridgeshire. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 214; (6) 5. 250. 

An eastern county of England, part of the Fen Country. 

Came. See Camus. 

Camelford (Gasulford). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 187. 

Galford, Devonshire. (Two Chr. 2. 384.) Milton's identi- 
fication with Camelford, or Gafulford, in Cornwall on the River 
Alan, is probably from Camden (1.6) to whom he refers in a note. 
The spelling Gasulford is a misprint for Gafulford. 

Camenick. Decl. Poland 8. 463. 

Kamenetz-Podolsk, the capital of Podolia, in southeastern 
Russia. Described by Cromerus as strong by nature and forti- 
fication. (Polonia, ed. of 1587, reprinted 1901, p. 43.) 

Campania. P. R. 4. 93; Divorce (2. 3) 4. 69. 

A district of Italy on the west coast, south of Latium. 

Camus. Marchioness 59; Lycidas 103; Eleg. 1. 11, 89. 

Camus is the Latin form of Cam, the name of the river flowing 
through Cambridge, called also Granta. Milton describes the 
river as "reed-bearing," and as having "rushy" pools, and his 
lines, 

Next Camus, reverend Sire, went footing slow, 

His Mantle hairy, and his Bonnet sedge, 

suggest his frequent observation of the sluggish course of the 
stream, between banks where water-plants grow. The appearance 
of Camus resembles that of the aged god of the Tiber. (Aeneid 
8. 31-4) Masson gives the following note on Lycidas 103-7: 
"The garb given to Camus must doubtless be characteristic. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 71 

and is perhaps most succinctly explained by a Latin note which 
appeared in a Greek translation of Lycidas by Mr. John Plumptre 
in 1797. 'The mantle,' said Mr. Plumptre in this note, 'is as 
if made of the plant river-sponge, which floats copiously in the 
Cam; the bonnet of the river sedge, distinguished by vague 
marks traced somehow over the middle of the leaves, and ser- 
rated at the edge of the leaves, after the fashion of the ai ai of 
the hyacinth.' It is said that the flags of the Cam still exhibit, 
when dried, these dusky streaks in the middle, and apparent 
scrawlings on the edge; and Milton (in whose MS. 'scrawled 
o'er' was first written for 'inwrought') is supposed to have carried 
away from the 'arundifer Camus' this exact recollection." 

Canaan (Holy Land, Palestinus, Promis'd Land). Ps. 114. 3; 

Ad Patrem 85; P. L. 1. Arg.; 3. 531, 536; 12. 135, 156, 172, 

215, 217, 269, 309, 315, 339; P. R. 3. 176, 366; Samson 380; 

Apology 3. 266; (12) 3. 323; Divorce (Pref.) 4. 7; Hirelings 

5. 352. (See also Israel, Palestine.) 

Milton gives two general surveys of the Land of Canaan, one 
of which, P. L. 3. 536-8, is based on the Biblical expression 
"from Dan even to Beersheba" {e. g., Judges 20. 1), these two 
cities being the most northern and the most southern in the 
country. The other, P. L. 12. 137-46, is much more elaborate, 
and seems to contain elements from many passages of Scripture, 
such as Numbers 34. 1-15; Deuteronomy 34. 1-4; Joshua 13; 
1 Kings 8. 65; Ezekiel 47. 13-21. 

Canada. Areopag. 4. 413. 

Milton uses the word to mean the northern part of the con- 
tinent of North America (cf. "Dominion of Canada" as used 
to-day). In his time, however, the name seems to have been 
restricted to the country along the St. Lawrence River (Blaeu, 
p. 26), a usage which long persisted in the application of the 
name only to the provinces of Quebec and Montreal. 

Canariae Insulae. Lit. Senat. (21) 7. 206; Contra Hisp. 7. 356. 
(See also Azores, Hesperides, Palma, Tenerifife.) 
The Canaries, a group of islands in the Atlantic, off the north- 
west coast of Africa. 

Canary Islands. See Canariae Insulae. 

Candahar. See Candaor. 



72 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Candaor. P. R. 3. 316. (See also Arachosia.) 

The modern Candahar, a province of Afghanistan, and a city 
of the same name, on the highway from Persia to India. Canda- 
har is a more modern name than some of those associated with 
it by Milton, and is partly synonymous with Arachosia, a name 
which has gone out of use. Purchas writes: "Candahar is a 
Citie of importance, which is frequented with Merchants of 
Turkic, Persia, and the parts of India." {Pilgrimes 1. 236.) 

Candinos. Moscovia (1) 8. 472. 

Now Cape Kanin. It marks the eastern entrance to the White 
Sea, in northern Russia. 

Cantabrigia. See 1. Cambridge. 

Cantbrig. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 215. 

Cambridge in Gloucestershire. Ethelwerd (a. d. 909), to whom 
Milton refers, calls it a place on the eastern side of the River 
Severn where there was a bridge. 

Canterbury (Caerkeynt, Cantuariensis, Doroverne). Reforma- 
tion (1) 3. 7, 12; (2) 3. 60; Church-gov. (1. 5) 3. 119; Eikonocl. 
(9) 3. 406; Colast. 4. 357; Ormond 4. 564; Hist. Brit. (1) 
5. 15; (4) 5. 139, 141, 162, 181; (5) 5. 192, 193, 231 
(twice); (6) 5. 241 (twice), 249, 251 (twice), 252, 278 (twice), 
279, 280, 283, 290; 1 Defens. - (8) 6. 141; Commonplace 
179. 
A city in Kent, on the River Stour. Geoffrey of Monmouth 

ascribes its foundation, under the name of Kaerlem, to Hudibras. 

(2. 9.) Nennius gives the name Cairceint. Bede refers to it 

in his Ecclesiastical History by the Roman name Doruvernis. 

Cantuariensis. See Canterbury. 

Cape. See Cape of Hope, Green Cape. 

Cape of Hope. P. L. 2. 641 ; 4. 160. (See also Ethiopian.) 

The Cape of Good Hope. An English captain who circum- 
navigated the globe in 1587 writes as follows of the trade winds 
met by ships when 

they on the trading Flood 
Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape 
Ply stemming nightly toward the Pole. 
(P. L. 2. 640-2.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 73 

"From the 19 day of March unto the 20 day of May, we found 
the windes for the most part betweene the South and the East- 
southeast, being then between the Hands of Maluco, and the 
cape of Buena Esperanza, in the latitude of 34 degrees to the 
South of the Line." (Hak. 3. 836.) 

Cape Verde. See Green Cape. 

Caphtor. Samson 1713. 

The land from which the Philistines came (Deuteronomy 2. 23; 
Jeremiah 47.4; Amos 9.7), variously identified with Crete, the 
Delta of the Nile, and Cilicia. In the time of Milton Cappadocia, 
the form used in the Vulgate, was also suggested. (Bochart, p. 
329.) 

Capitol (Tarpeian Rock). Eleg. 1. 69; P. L. 9. 508; P. R. 4. 47, 
49; Eikonocl. (26) 3. 501 (thrice); (28) 3. 517. (See also 
Quirini.) 
The Capitoline or Tarpeian Hill is the smallest of the seven 

hills of Rome, and one of those nearest the Tiber. It was the 

Citadel of Rome, and on it stood the temple of Jupiter Capito- 

linus. 

Cappadocus. 1 Defens. (2) 6. 30. 

Of Cappadocia, a country in the eastern part of Asia Minor, 
west of the Euphrates. Milton is quoting from Martial's lines: 

Civis non Syriaeve, Parthiaeve, 
Nee de Cappadocis eques eatastis. 

(10. 76.) 

Capreae. P. R. 4. 92; 1 Defens. (2) 6. 27. 

An island on the coast of Campania, of which Sandys writes 
thus: "We passed between this cape [of Minerva] and Caprse, an 
island distant three miles from the same, small and rocky, having 
no Haven nor convenient station. But the air is there mild, 
even during the Winter, being defended from the bitter North 
by the Surrentine Mountains, and by the West-wind, to which 
it lies open, refreshed in the Summer; possessing on all sides the 
pleasure of the Sea, and the delicate Prospects of Vesuvium, 
Naples, Cuma, and the adjoyning Islands. . . . Tyberius made 
Caprse, by his cruelty and lusts, both infamous and unhappy; 
who hither withdrawing from the affairs of the Common-wealth, 
for that the Island was unaccessible on all sides by reason of the 



74 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

upright clifts, except only at one place, no man being suffered to 
land but upon especial admittance, hence sent his Mandates of 
death." (Pp. 196-7.) Milton perhaps visited Capreae when in 

Naples. 

Caribiae InsulaB. Contra Hisp. 7. 361. 
The Lesser Antilles, in the West Indies. 

Carisbrooke. See Withgarburgh. 

CarUle (Cairleil). Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 15; (2) 5. 73. 
Carlisle, in Cumberland, England. 

Carlisle. See Carlile. 

1. Carmel. P. L. 12. 144. 

A hilly promontory breaking the coast of Palestine, with its 
ridge extending to the southeast. Milton's "on the shore Mount 
Carmel," is perhaps from Jeremiah 46. 18, where are the words 
"Carmel by the sea." 

2. Carmel. MS. 2. 110. 

A town of Judah about ten miles southeast of Hebron. (1 
Samuel 25.) 

Carpathian. Comus 872. 

Pertaining to Carpathus, an island in the ^^gean Sea, south- 
east of Rhodes, where Proteus was fabled to dwell. 

Carr. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 191, 192; (6) 5. 264. 

The River Char, Dorsetshire. (Chronicle 833, 840.) 

Carron. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 82. 

A river of Stirlingshire, Scotland, which fiows into the Firth 
of Forth. 

Carthage. See 1. Carthago. 

1. Carthago. P. R. 3. 35; 1 Defens. (10) 6. 169; 5 Prolus. 7. 437. 
Ancient Carthage, on the shore of what is now Tunisia. 

2. Carthago. Contra Hisp. 7. 358. 

Cartagena, a seaport of Colombia on the Caribbean Sea, 
founded in 1583. 

Casan.» See Cazan. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 75 

Casbeen. P. L. 10. 436. (See also Bactrian, Hispahan,) 

Kasbin, a city some distance south of the Caspian Sea, formerly 
a capital of Persia. We find the following in Purchas: " Casbin, 
a citie very wealthy, by reason of the Kings Palace, and the great 
concourse of Merchants which resort thither. . . . This Citie 
is seated in a goodly fertile plaine of three or foure daies journey 
in length, furnished with two thousand Villages, to serve the 
necessary uses thereof. . . . It is now one of the seats of the 
Persian Kings Empire, which was translated by King Tamas, 
this Kings Grand-father, from Tauris. . . . The gate of the 
Kings Palace is built with stone of divers colours, and curiously 
enamuled with Gold : on the seeling within is carved the warres 
of the Persian Kings, and the sundry battels fought by them 
against the Turkes and Tartars; the pavements of the rooms 
beneath, and Chambers above are spread with most fine Carpets, 
woven and tessued with Silke and Gold, all Ensignes and Monu- 
ments of the Persian greatnesse." {Pilgrimes 2. 1430.) 

Casius, Mount. P. L. 2. 593. (See also Serbonian Bog.) 

The summit of a range of hills on the borders of Egypt and 
Arabia Petraea, south of the Mediterranean. Sandys, after 
giving an abridgment of the account of the Serbonian Bog by 
Diodorus, continues: "Close to this standeth the Mountain 
Cassius, no other than a huge mole of sand, famous for the Temple 
of Jupiter, and Sepulchre of Pompey." (P. 107.) 

Caspian. Quint. Nov. 20; P. L. 2. 716; P. R. 3. 271; Moscovia 
(1) 8. 474, 475, 476 (twice). (See also Hyrcanian.) 
Mela writes of the Caspian Sea: "Altogether raging, savage, 
without ports, exposed to winds on all sides." (3. 5.) Anthony 
Jenkinson says: "Thus sailing sometimes along the coast, and 
sometimes out of sight of land, the 13 day of May, having a 
contrary winde, wee came to an anker, being three leagues from 
the shoare, and there rose a sore storme, which continued 44 
houres, and our cable being of our owne spinning, brake, and 
lost our anker, and being off a lee shoare, and having no boate to 
helpe us, we hoysed our saile, and bare roomer with the said 
shoare, looking for present death, but as God provided for us, 
we ranne into a creeke ful of oze, and so saved our selves with 
our barke. . . . Thus when the storme was seased, we went out 
of the creeke againe. . . . Within two dayes after, there arose 



76 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

another great storme, at the Northeast, and we lay a trie, being 
driven far into the sea, and had much ado to keepe our barke from 
sinking, the billow was so great." (Hak. 1. 334.) Jenkinson gives 
a similar account of a storm which lasted seven days. (Hak. 
1. 345.) Marlowe calls the Caspian "ever-raging." {1 Tambur- 
laine 176.) 

Cassibelauni Jugera. Damon. 149. (See also Colnus.) 

Frequently interpreted as St. Albans, Hertfordshire, the capital 
city of Cassivellaunus. (Masson, Milton'' s Poems 3. 358.) There 
seems, however, to have been no association of either Milton or 
Diodati with St. Albans. Perhaps the words refer to the same 
territory as that mentioned in the remainder of the same line, 
"ad aquas Colni," and mean the neighborhood of Horton. 
Buckinghamshire, for the realm of Cassivellaunus lay north 
of the Thames, and included that county. (Camden 1. 313.) 
It is so placed in Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 39, where Milton refers to 
Camden. 

Castalian Spring. P. L. 4. 274. 

A fountain at Daphne (g. v.), named after that mentioned 
under Castalis. 

Castalis. Eleg. 4. 32; 5.9. 

The Castalian Spring is a fountain at Delphi, the water of 
which was used for purification in connection with the worship 
of Apollo there. It was supposed to impart poetic inspiration 
to those who drank its waters. 

Casteel. See Castile. 

Castile (Casteel). Church-gov. (2. 1) 3. 152; Commonplace 

185. 

Formerly a kingdom in the northern and central parts of the 
Spanish peninsula. 

Cataio. See Cathay. 

Cataracta. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 177. 

Catterick, in northwestern Yorkshire, on the River Swale. 
(Camden 3. 24.) 

Catelina. See Providentia. 

Cathaia. See Cambalu. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 77 

Cathaian. See Cathay. 

Cathay (Cathaian, Cataio, China, Sinsean). P. L. 3. 438; 10. 

293; 11. 388, 390; Animadv. (3. 37) 3. 213; Areopag. 4. 413; 

Epist. Fam. (18) 7. 396; Moscovia (Pref.) 8. 469, 470; (1) 

8. 471; (3) 8. 484, 485 (thrice), 486 (thrice), 487 (thrice), 488. 

(See also Cambalu, Sericana, Vaiguts.) 

Now known to be the same as the northern half of China. 
The name Cathay was applied to China by those who obtained 
their knowledge from travelers who went overland, while the 
name China was used by those who went by water. The Rus- 
sians still know China by the name of Cathay. (Yule, Marco 
Polo, p. 12.) Though direct intercourse between Cathay and the 
West ceased about the middle of the fourteenth century, the name 
still remained, with all the associations which had been given it 
by accounts of the power of Chingiz Kaan and other mighty 
Mongol emperors. When in the sixteenth century China was 
rediscovered from the south by the Portuguese, the name Cathay 
continued to be used. It was applied, however, not to northern 
China, but to an empire supposed to lie farther north in what is 
now eastern Siberia. The Chinese policy of exclusion made it 
difficult for strangers to learn much of their country, and the 
impression made on the traders and missionaries of the period 
of discovery was unlike that made on travelers who visited the 
land at the time of the brilliant rule of the house of Chingiz. 
Consequently, even to the end of the sixteenth century, China and 
Cathay were thought of as different regions, and were so repre- 
sented on maps. Mercator, for example, shows Cathay north 
of China, and locates Cambalu in latitude 58°, longitude 160°, 
and Davity distinguishes between them. Samuel Purchas was 
much interested in the question of the possible identity of 
China and Cathay, of which he gives a long discussion in the 
Pilgrimage. (Pp. 461-6.) An excellent historical review of the 
subject is made by Colonel Henry Yule in Cathay and the Way 
Thither. Whether or not Milton knew China and Cathay to be 
the same, he accepts them as geographically distinct in P. L. 
11. 388-90. Perhaps he retains the older belief for the sake of 
poetic effect. The ideas which a reader is likely to associate 
with Cambalu, and Cathay, and the military power of the Great 
Kaan are unlike those called up by the commercial renown and 



78 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

exclusive policy of Peking and China. On occasion Milton was 
willing to identify the Chinese with the inhabitants of Cathay, 
which had been earlier known as Serica (see Sericana), as is 
shown by the following passage : 

the barren plaines 
Of Sericana, where Chineses drive 
With Sails and Wind their cany Waggons light. 

(P. L. 3. 437-439.) 

Henry Hudson and other Englishmen who early attempted to find 
the Northeast Passage were in search of Cathay rather than China, 
which they supposed to lie far to the south. (Cf. Areopag. 4. 413.) 
Milton alludes to their search for Cathay in P. L. 10. 291-3. 
The following is part of a commission given certain Englishmen 
who set out to find a way to China by the northeast: "A voyage 
by them to be made by Gods Grace, for search and discoveries 
of a passage by sea from hence by Boroughs streights, and the 
Island Vaigats, Eastwards, to the countries or dominions of the 
mightie Prince, the Emperour of Cathay, and in the same unto 
the Cities of Cambalu and Quinsay, or to either of them. . . . 
We hope that the continent or firme land of Asia doth not stretch 
it selfe so farre Northwards, but that there may be found a sea 
passable by it, between the latitude of 70 and 80 degrees. . . . 
Passe Eastwards alongst the same coast, keeping it always in 
your sight, if conveniently you may, untill you come to the 
mouth of the river Ob, and when you come unto it, passe over 
the said rivers mouth into the border of land, on the Eastside 
of the same . . . and being in sight of the same Easterly land, 
doe you in Gods name proceed alongst by it from thence East- 
wards, keeping the same alwayes on your starboardside in sight, 
if you may, and follow the tract of it, whether it incline Southerly 
or Northerly . . . untill you come to the Countrey of Cathay, 
or the dominion of that mightie Emperour." (Hak. 1. 433- 
434.) Such a voyage seemed the easier to the men of that time, 
because they did not realize how far Asia extends to the northeast, 
and placed Cathay far to the north. 

Cathness. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 19; (5) 5. 222. 

Caithness, a county of northern Scotland, bordering on the 
Atlantic and the North Sea. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 79 

Catterick. See Cataracta. 

Caucasus. P. R. 3. 318; Logic (2. Praxis) 7. 175; 3 Prolus. 

7. 427; 8 Prolus. 7. 457. (See also Hyrcanian.) 

The great chain of mountains between the Black and the 
Caspian Seas, supposed to have been the scene of the punishment 
of Prometheus. Milton's reference to the "Hyrcanian cliffs of 
Caucasus," though somewhat conventional, is perhaps dependent 
on the lines of Virgil quoted in the Logic. They may be trans- 
lated: "Neither was a goddess your mother, nor Dardanus the 
founder of your race, traitor! but Caucasus bristling with rugged 
rocks begot you, and Hyrcanian tigresses gave you suck." 
(Mneid 4. 365-7.) 

Cazan (Casan). Moscovia (1) 8. 475 (twice); (4) 8. 492; (5) 

8. 512, 518. 

Kazan, a city of eastern Russia, on the Volga. In a passage 
to which Milton refers in a note, Jenkinson writes: "We came 
unto an Island one league from the citie of Cazan, from which 
falleth downe a river called Cazanka reca, and entreth into the 
foresaide Volga. Cazan is a faire town after the Russe or Tartar 
fashion, with a strong castle, situated upon a high hill, and was 
walled round about with timber and earth, but now the Emperour 
of Russia hath given order to plucke downe the old walles, and 
to builde them againe of free stone. It hath bene a citie of great 
wealth and riches, and being in the hands of the Tartars it was a 
kingdome of itself e, and did more to vexe the Russes in their 
warres, then any other nation, but 9 yeres past, this Emperour of 
Russia conquered it, and tooke the king captive, who being but 
young is nowe baptised, and brought up in his court with two 
other princes, which were also kings of the said Cazan, and 
being ech of them in time of their raignes in danger of their 
subjects through civil discord, came and rendred themselves at 
several times unto the said Emperor, so that at this present 
there are three princes in the court of Russia, which had bene 
Emperours of the said Cazan, whom the Emperour useth with 
great honour." (Hak. 1. 324.) 

Celtica. See Gaul. 

Celtick Fields. See France. 



80 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Ceraunia. Nat. Non 31. 

A name applied to mountains in Epirus, and also to part of 
the Caucasus. Milton when writing of them perhaps had in 
mind the following passage in an account of a storm by Virgil: 
"The god with his blazing bolt casts down either Athos or 
Rhodope, or high Ceraunia." (Georgics 1. 332.) 

Cerdic's Ley. See Kerdics Leage. 

Cestrensis. See Chester. 

Chaeronea. Sonnet 10.7. 

A town of Boeotia, on the River Cephissus, where, in B. C. 338, 
Philip of Macedon defeated the forces of the Athenians and 
Boeotians. 

Chalcedon. Church-gov. (1. Pref.) 3. 96. 

A town in Bithynia, opposite Byzantium, on the Bosporus. 

Chalcidica Ripa. Damon 182; 3 Leonor. 4. 

The region of Cumae, Campania, was called Chalcidicse because 
it was settled by colonists from the Greek Chalcidicse. Virgil 
uses the word in this sense, (^netd 6. 17.) 

Chaldea. P. L. 12. 130. 

A part of ancient Babylonia. (See Genesis 11.31.) 

Chalybean. Samson 133. 

The Chalybes were a race living south of the Black Sea, 
famous as workers in iron. Dionysius Periegetes says of them: 
"The Chalybes, who understand the tasks of toilsome iron, 
inhabit a hard and rough land, who, standing by the loud-roaring 
anvils, never cease toil and grim hardship." (LI. 768-72.) 

Channel Islands. See Norman Isles. 

Chardford. See Kerdicsford. 

Charibdis. See Charybdis. 

Charing- Cross. Animadv. (5. 50) 3. 223. (See also Queene- 

Hithe.) 

A cross of stone in Westminster, one of those erected by King 
Edward I in memory of Queen Eleanor. (Stow 2. 100.) 

Charmouth. See Carr. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 81 

Charybdis (Charibdis). Comus 259; P. L. 2. 1020; Animadv. 

(4. 45) 3. 216. (See also Scylla, Sicily.) 

A famous whirlpool in the Straits of Messina, on the side 
toward Sicily. The Circe of Homer describes it as follows: 
"But that other cliff, Odysseus, thou shalt note, lying lower, 
hard by the first: thou couldest send an arrow across. And 
thereon is a great fig-tree growing, in fullest leaf, and beneath it 
mighty Charybdis sucks down black water, for thrice a day she 
spouts it forth, and thrice a day she sucks it down in terrible wise. 
Never mayest thou be there when she sucks the water, for none 
might save thee then from thy bane, not even the Earth-shaker!" 
{Odyssey 12. 101-7.) When Odysseus actually sees Charybdis 
she appears as follows: "Mighty Charybdis in terrible wise 
sucked down the salt sea water. As often as she belched it 
forth, like a cauldron on a great fire she would seethe up through 
all her troubled deeps, and overhead the spray fell on the tops 
of either cliff. But oft as she gulped down the salt sea water, 
within she was all plain to see through her troubled deeps, and 
the rock around roared horribly and beneath the earth was 
manifest swart with sand, and pale fear gat hold of my men. 
Toward her, then, we looked fearing destruction." {lb. 12. 235- 
44.) The roar of Charybdis explains Milton's "hoarce Tri- 
nacrian shore." Sandys, who sailed by Charybdis, writes: "This 
Whirle-pit is said to have thrown up her Wracks near Tauro- 
menia, which is between it and Catania. Then surely by much 
more outragious than now, and more dangerous to the Sailer, 
by reason of their unskilfulness. As now, during our passage, 
so heretofore, it was smooth and appeased whilst calm weather 
lasted; but when the winds began to ruffle, especially from the 
South, it forthwith runs round with violent eddies, so that many 
Vessels by the means thereof do miscarry." (P. 192.) 

Chebar. Passion 37. 

Now identified with a large canal east of Nippur, Babylonia. 
Adrichomius thinks it to be the Euphrates. (P. 97.) There 
the prophet Ezekiel saw his visions. (Ezekiel 1.1.) 

Chebron. See Hebron. 

Cheila. 1 Defens. (4) 6. 78. 

A town of Judah, the Keilah of the Authorized Version. (1 
Samuel 23. 1-13.) 



82 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Chelmar. See Idumanius. 
Cherith. P. R. 2. 266. 

A brook of Palestine, placed by the Bible "before Jordan." 
(1 Kings 17. 3, 5.) Fuller says that it flows into the Sea of 
Galilee from the east (p. 91, map), and Adrichomius makes it 
a tributary of the Jordan from the west. (P. 14, map.) 

Chersonese (Chersoness). P. L. 11. 392; P. R. 4. 74. (See 
also Ophir.) 

A region east of India, usually identified with the peninsula 
of Malacca. (Ortelius, Parergon, p. 1.) Purchas writes: "The 
Kingdome of Siam comprehendeth that Aurea Regio of Ptolemy 
by Arrianus in his Periplus . , . called Aurea Continens; nigh 
to which is placed that Aurea Chersonesus, then, it seemeth, by 
a necke of land joyned to the Continent; since supposed to be 
by force of the Sea separated from the same, and to be the same 
which is now called Sumatra." (Pilgrimage, p. 557.) Purchas 
knew of the claims of Malacca, for in a marginal note he says: 
"This reason is alledged why Sumatra should be Aurea Chersone, 
and Ophyr, and not the Continent of Malacca which hath no 
Gold." {lb., p. 697.) The reason appears in the following passage, 
which follows an account of a marvelous banquet given by the 
king of Sumatra: "This King sent to his Majestic a Present, and 
a Letter in forme for painting and writing very curious, the words 
thus interpreted. Pedrucka Sirie Sultan, King of Kings, Re- 
nowmed for his warres, and sole king of Samatra, and a King 
more feared than his predecessors; feared in his Kingdome, and 
honoured of all bordering Nations; in whom there is the true 
image of a King, in whom raignes the true methode of Gouverne- 
ment, formed as it were of the most pure metall, and adorned 
with the most fine colours; whose seate is high and most com- 
pleate, like to a Chrystall River, pure and cleere as the choicest 
glasse; from whom fioweth the pure stream of Bounty and 
Justice; whose presence is as the finest Gold; King of Priaman, 
and of the Mountaine of Gold, viz: Solida, and Lord of nine 
sorts of Stones ; King of two Sumbreroes of beaten Gold ; having 
for his Seates Mats of Gold; His furniture for his horses, and 
Armour for Himselfe being likewise of pure gold; His Elephant 
with teeth of Gold, and all his provisions thereunto belonging; 
His Lances halfe Gold, halfe Silver; his small shot of the same; 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 83 

a saddle also for another Elephant of the same metall; a Tent 
of Silver; and all his Seales, halfe Gold, halfe Silver;, his 
Sepulchre of Gold, whereas His Predecessors had all these halfe 
Gold, halfe Silver; his services compleat of Gold and Silver." 
{lb., p. 697.) 

Chersoness. See Chersonese. 

Cheshire. Eikonocl. (12) 3. 438; Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 219, 221; 

Rupt. Com. 5. 401. 

A county of western England, bordering on Wales and the 
Irish Sea. 

Chester (Caer-Legion, Cestrensis, Westchester) . Eleg. 1.3; Lyci- 
das, sub-title; Eikonocl. (8) 3. 391; Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 144 
(twice); (5) 5. 209, 233; (6) 5. 240, 276, 286. (See also 
Wirheal.) 

A city in Cheshire. Camden explains that its various names 
"are all undoubtedly derived from the 20th legion called Victrix" 
which was quartered there. (2.423.) The prefix PTe^/ in the form 
Westchester means not west, as Camden and Milton thought {Hist. 
Brit. (5) 5. 209, based on Chronicle 894), but waste. {Two Chr. 2. 
110.) Milton's friend Diodati lived for a time in Chester. 

Chesters. See Scilcester. 

Chichester. See Cichester. 

Chiltern. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 249. 

A range of hills extending across the central part of Bucking- 
hamshire from southwest to northeast, south of the Vale of 
Aylesbury. Florence of Worcester, one of the authorities men- 
tioned by Milton in connection with them, speaks of Chiltern 
Forest. HoHnshed writes: "Why should I speake of . . . our 
Chiltern, which are eighteen miles at the least from one end of 
them, which reach from Henlie in Oxfordshire to Dunstable in 
Bedfordshire, and are verie well replenished with wood and 
corne? not withstanding that the most part yeeld a sweet short 
grass profitable for sheep." (1. 184.) The hills are some dis- 
tance north of Milton's home at Horton, and we have no evidence 
that he had visited them. 

China. See Cathay. 



84 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Chios. P. R. 4. 118. 

An island of the Mgea.n Sea, about five miles from the coast 
of Asia Minor. The wine of Chios is often mentioned by 
Horace. (Epod. 9. 34; Serm. 1. 10. 24; 2. 3. 115, etc.) 

Chippenham. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 204. 

A town in Wiltshire, on the River Avon. 

Chirchester. See Circenester. 

Choaspes. P. R. 3. 288. (See also Severn, Susiana.) 

A river of southern Persia emptying into the Schatt el Arab. 
The story to which Milton refers in the words, "The drink of 
none but Kings" is told by Herodotus as follows: "Now the 
great king makes his marches not only well furnished from home 
with provisions for his table and with cattle, but also taking 
with him water of the Choaspes boiled, which flows by Susa, 
of which alone and of no other river the king drinks: and of this 
water of the Choaspes boiled, a very great number of waggons, 
four-wheeled and drawn by mules, carry a supply in silver 
vessels, and go with him wherever he may march at any time." 
(1. 188.) Todd endeavors to explain why Milton says that only 
kings drink of the water of this river. Among his references is 
one to Solinus, who writes: "The Choaspes is so sweet that the 
Persian kings, as long as it flows between banks of the soil of 
Persia, arrogate to themselves drafts from it." (38. 4.) Todd 
refers also to a "golden water" of which none but the kings 
drank, but says that this is not known to be the same as Choaspes. 
He also quotes from Heylyn {Cosmography, p. 3) as follows: 
'"Eulaeus (another name for Choaspes), the chief river of Susiana, 
emptying itself into Sinus Persicus, a river of so pure a stream 
that the great Persian kings would drink of no other water." 

Jerram, in his edition of P. R., explains the adjective "amber," 
which Milton applies to the river, as clear, and quotes from Virgil: 

purior electro campum petit amnis. 

{Georg. 3. 522.) 

This is translated: "stream that rolls . . . clearer than amber, 
in its course to the plain." He also refers to the passage: 

And where the river of Bliss through midst of Heavn 
Rowls o'er Elisian Flours her Amber stream. 

(P. L. 3. 358-9.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 85 

Since this stream is apparently the "pure river of water of life, 
clear as crystal" (Revelation 22. 1), the application of the words 
"amber stream" to Choaspes is high praise. The word amber 
is used by Milton in connection with light or brightness in the 
following passages : 

Where the great Sun begins his state, 
Rob'd in flames, and Amber light. 

{L'All. 60-1.) 

thou fair Moon 
That wontst to love the travailers benison 
Stoop thy pale visage through an amber cloud. 

(Comus 331-3.) 

Over thir heads a chrystal Firmament, 
Whereon a Saphir Throne, inlaid with pure 
Amber, and colours of the showrie Arch. 

(P. L. 6. 757-759.) 

The last is from Ezekiel 1. 26-28. Cf. also Ezekiel 1. 4 and 8. 2. 
These passages suggest the association of the Latin and Greek 
equivalents of amber, electrum and vXeKxpov, with the word 
i}KkKT(j)p, the beaming sun or fire. A similar idea appears in 
Pliny's account of amber, part of which is as follows: "Commend- 
able it is in Amber, and sheweth it to bee rich, if it represent 
fire in some sort, but it must not be too fierie. But the excellent 
Amber is that which is called Falernum: and the same is clear 
and transparent, with a gay lustre that pleaseth and contenteth 
the eye very well." (37. 3.) In his account of the metal, 
amber or electrum, composed of four parts of gold and one of 
silver, he writes: "This white gold also hath been of great 
account, time out of mind, as may appear by the testimonie of 
the Poet Homer, who writeth that the palaice of prince Menelaus 
glittered with gold, electrum, silver, and yvorie. . . . This 
propertie hath Electrum naturally: To shine by candle light, 
more clear and bright than silver." {ZZ. 4.) Of the gem 
choaspites, named from the River Choaspes, he says: "Greene 
it is and resplendent like burnished gold." (37. 10.) Cf. the 
word "amber-dropping" {Comus 863) applied to the hair of 
Sabrina, goddess of the River Severn, whose waves are called 
"glassy," "translucent," and "silver," and referred to as "molten 
crystal." Liddell and Scott give an instance of the word 



86 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

rfKkKTpivos applied to water (Callimachus, Cer. 29) with the 
meaning shining like amber, perhaps the meaning which Milton 
had in mind. 

Cichester. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 209. 
Chichester, Sussex. 

Cilicia. Eleg. 4. 102; Hirelings 5. 369. 

A district of northwestern Syria, bordering on the Mediter- 
ranean. Tarsus, the city of Paul, was in Cilicia. 

Cilix. See Cilicia. 

Cimbricus. Eleg. 4. 16. 

Pertaining to the Cimbri, a German tribe, inhabiting Jut- 
land, Schleswig, and Holstein. 

Cimmerian Desert. Quint. Nov. 60; L'All. 10; 1 Prolus. 7. 

421. (See also 2. Pontus.) 

Milton has in mind no definite place. His reference is ex- 
plained by the following: "She [the ship of Odysseus] came to 
the limits of the world, to the deep-flowing Oceanus. There is 
the land and the city of the Cimmerians, shrouded in mist and 
cloud, and never does the shining sun look down on them with 
his rays, neither when he climbs up the starry heavens, nor when 
again he turns earthward from the firmament, but deadly night 
is outspread over miserable mortals." {Odyssey 11. 12-19.) 
The ancients placed the Cimmerians also in the region of the 
Crimea. (E. g., Herodotus 4. 11.) 

Circassia. Moscovia (5) 8. 518. 

A district of Russia, in the Caucasus, directly east of the 
Black Sea. 

Circe's Hand. Comus 50. 

The Island of JExa (Odyssey 10), where Circe dwelt, was 
supposed to lie off the coast of Campania, and was associated 
with the promontory of Circeii. Sandys says of his voyage 
along that coast: "And now we are come to the Circaean Promon- 
tory, once being an Island, the Marishes not then dryed up that 
divided it from the Continent." (P. 239.) 

Cirencester (Chirchester). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 134; (4) 5. 152; 
(5) 5. 206; (6) 5. 264. 
A town in Gloucestershire, 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 87 

Cirrha. Procancel, 31. (See also Aonian.) 

A seaport of Greece, near Delphi and Parnassus, associated 
with Apollo. Milton applies the name figuratively to Cam- 
bridge. 

Cithseron. Quint. Nov. 67. 

A range of mountains separating Bceotia from Megaris and 
Attica. It was sacred to Bacchus, in connection with whom, 
under the name of Bromius, Milton mentions it. Virgil refers 
to it as follows: "Bereft of sense she [Dido] raves, and fired with 
madness rushes wildly all through the city, like a Thyad roused 
by the moving of the sacred mysteries, when the cry of Bacchus 
is heard, and the triennial orgies goad her to frenzy, and Cithaeron 
by night invites her with its din." {M^neid 4. 300-3.) 

City. See London. 

Clandeboy. Ormond 4. 576. 

A place in County Antrim, northeastern Ireland, the seat of 
the O'Neals. 

Cleves. Divorce (2. 21) 4. 123; Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 81. 

An ancient duchy of Germany, lying along the lower Rhine 
below Cologne. 

Clink. Apology (1) 3. 286. 

A prison in the Liberty of the Clink, in Southwark, on the 
bank of the Thames, spoken of by Stow as "a Gayle or prison 
for the trespassers in those parts, Namely in olde time for such 
as should brabble, frey, or breake the Peace on the saide banke, 
or in the Brothell houses, they were by the inhabitants there 
about apprehended, and committed to this Gayle, where they 
were straightly imprisoned." (2. 53, 55.) 

Cnidos. Eleg. 1. 83. (See also Paphos.) 

A city of Caria famed for its temple of Venus. For example, 
Horace writes of Venus: 

quae Cnidon 
Fulgentisque tenet Cycladas, et Paphon 
lunctis visit oloribus. 

{Odes 3. 28. 13-15.) 

Cocytus. P. L. 2. 579. 

A tributary of the Acheron in Epirus, which, like the Acheron 
itself, was transferred to the lower regions. Its name means 

lamentation. 

7 



88 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Colchester. See Camalodunum. 

Colchis. Eleg. 4. 10. 

A region east of the Black Sea, the native land of Medea. 

Colebrook. Eikonocl. (18) 3. 468, 472; Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 208. 

(See also Colnus.) 

A town of Buckinghamshire at the junction of the Colne with 
the Thames. The passage in Camden to which Milton refers in 
Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 208 is as follows: "The Cole falls into the 
Thames dividing Bucks from Middlesex at a town called from 
it Colebrook. . . . Here the Cole is divided into four channels. 
. . . By these divisions the Coin forms several pleasant islands, 
to which the Danes retired before Alfred a. d. 894." (1. 314.) 
Colnbrook, as the place is now called, must have been well 
known to Milton, for it is distant from Horton but a mile. 

Colgoieve. Moscovia (1) 8. 472. 

An island of the Arctic Ocean, north of Russia. The account 
to which Milton refers in his note. is as follows: "We had sight 
of Colgoieve Hand, and took the latitude, being on the North 
side of the Hand which was 69 degrees, 20 minutes; and at night 
I went on shoare to see the Land, which was high clay ground: 
and I came where there was an airie of Slight-falcons, but they 
did fhe all away save one, which I tooke up, and brought aboord. 
This He of Colgoieve is but thirtie leagues from the Barre of 
Pechora." {Pilgnmes 3. 533.) 

Colmogro. Moscovia (1) 8. 473, 4':'4; (5) 8. 510, 511 (twice). 
A town of northern Russia, southeast of Archangel on the 
River Dwina. The name is now written Kholmogory. The 
account of Randolph, to which Milton refers in a note, is as 
follows: "Upon this river (Dwina) standeth Colmogro, and many 
prety villages, well situated for pasture, arable land, wood and 
water. The river pleasant between hie hills of either side in- 
wardly inhabited, and in a maner a wildernesse of hie firre trees, 
and other wood. At Colmogro being 100 versts, which we 
account for three quarters of a mile every verst, we taried three 
wpeks, . . . Colmogro is a great towne builded all of wood, 
not walled, but scattered house from house. The people are 
rude in maners, and in apparell homely, saving upon their 
festivall and marriage dayes. ... In this towne the English 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 89 

men have lands of their owne, given them by the Emperour, 
and faire houses, with offices for their commodity, very many." 
(Hak. 1. 376.) 

Coin. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 208. (See also Camalodunum.) 
A river of Essex flowing into the North Sea. 

Colnbrook. See Colebrook. 

Colnchester. See Camalodunum. 

Colne. See Colnus. 

Colney. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 208. (See also Colebrook, Coin.) 

The island in the River Colne where the Danes encamped in 
the year 894. {Chronicle.) Milton seems to prefer to locate 
this island in the Coin in Essex, but the opinion of Camden, who 
locates it at Colebrook in Buckinghamshire, is now accepted. 

Colnus. Damon. 149. (See also Colebrook.) 

The River Colne, dividing Middlesex and Buckinghamshire. 
Since this river is on the outskirts of the village of Horton, 
Milton must have been familiar with it. His reference indicates 
that its banks had been one of his favorite haunts. 

Cologne. See Cullen. 

Colonia. See Cullen. 

Coloniensis. See Cullen. 

Colossi. True Relig. 5. 415. 
A city of Phrygia, Asia Minor. 

Coluga. Moscovia (4) 8. 498. 

The town of Kalouga in central Russia, southwest of Moscow. 
{Pilgrimes 3. 765, 770.) 

Comgoscoi. Moscovia (2) 8. 483; (3) 8. 484. (See also Tooma.) 
Apparently a misprint for Comgof-scoi, the form in Pil- 
grimes 3. 527, to which Milton refers in a note. The place is 
probably to be identified with Tooma, to which it corresponds in 
location, being above Narim on an eastern tributary of the 
River Ob. Both cities are represented as starting points for 
expeditions to the east, and Tooma, the first settlement in the 
region, was founded in 1604, the year before the first expedition 
from Comgof-scoi. 



90 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Congo. P. L. 11. 401; Commonplace 114. 

In the time of Milton this word had a wider application 
than at present. Congo included most of western Africa south 
of Guinea. Purchas describes it as follows: "It is distinguished 
by foure borders: The first, of the West, which is watered with 
the Ocean Sea. . . . And to beginne with the border lying upon 
the Sea, the first part of it is in the Bay called Seno della Vacche, 
and is situate in the height of thirteene degrees upon the Antarc- 
ticke-side, and stretcheth all along the Coast unto foure degrees 
and a halfe on the North-side, neere to the Equinoctiall." 
{Pilgrimes 2. 989.) Mercator gives the other boundaries as 
follows: "On the south the Mountains of the Moon, on the east 
the mountains where are the sources of the Nile, and on the 
north the kingdom of Benin." (P. 636.) Purchas gives a long 
account of the conversion of the people to Christianity, to which 
Milton refers in the Commonplace Book. A portion of it is as 
follows: " All the Portugals put themselves on their way towards 
the Court, to baptise the King, who with a most fervent longing 
attended the same. And the Governour of Sogno took order 
that many of his Lords should wait upon them with musicke, 
and singing, and other signes of wonderfull rejoysing; besides, 
divers slaves which he gave them to carrie their stuffe, com- 
manding also the people, that they should prepare all manner 
of victuall to bee readie in the streets for them. So great was the 
number of people that ranne and met together to behold them, 
as the whole Champaigne seemed to bee in a manner covered 
with them, and they all did in great kindnesse entertaine and 
welcome the Portugall Christians, with singing and sounding 
of Trumpets and Cymbals, and other Instruments of that 
Countrey. And it is an admirable thing to tell you, that all the 
streets and high-ways, that reach from the Sea to the Citie of 
Saint Saviours, being one hundred and fiftie miles, were all 
cleansed and swept, and abundantly furnished with all manner 
of victuall and other necessaries for the Portugals. Indeed, they 
doe use in those Countries, when the King or the principall 
Lordes goe abroad, to cleanse their wayes and make them hand- 
some. . . . And so great was the multitude of people, which 
abounded in the streets, and that there was neither Tree nor 
Hillocke higher than the rest, but it was loden with those that 
were run forth and assembled to view these Strangers, which 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 91 

brought unto them this new Law of their Salvation. . . . Many- 
other Lords, being addicted rather to the sensual tie of the flesh, 
then the puritie of the minde, resisted the Gospel, which began 
now to be preached, especially in that Commandement, wherein 
it is forbidden that a man should have any more Wives but one." 
{Pilgrimes 2. 1010-L) 

Constance. Eikonocl, (28) 3. 52L 

A city on the River Rhine, in the Grand Duchy of Baden. 
From 1414 to 1418 a council of the Church, known for its con- 
demnation of John Huss, was held there. 

Constantinople. See Bizance. 

Corallaei Agri. Eleg. 6. 19. 

The territory of the Coralli, containing the city of Tomi, on 
the western shore of the Black Sea, to which Ovid was banished. 

Corfe (Corvesgate). Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 238. 

A castle in the Island of Purbeck, Dorsetshire, described by 
Camden, to whom Milton refers, as in ruins. (1. 44.) It is 
identified with Corvesgate. {Chronicle 979.) 

Corinth. Church-gov. (1. 6) 3. 131; Eikonocl. (27) 3. 507. 
A city of Greece, on the Isthmus of Corinth. 

Cornucopia. Apology (6) 3. 294. 

An imaginary region invented by Milton, on the analogy of 
those mentioned by Bishop Hall in Mundus Alter et Idem, in 
derision of the horns (cornua) pedantically mentioned by the 
author of yl Modest Confutation of the Animadversions upon the 
Remonstrant against Smectymnuus. 

Cornwall. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 12, 14, 17, 20, 27; (3) 5. 103, 132 
(twice); (4) 5. 185, 187; (6) 5. 240, 243. 
The most southwestern county of England. 

Corvesgate. See Corfe. 

Cosham. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 256. 

Identified by Milton with Cosham, Wiltshire, now Corsham. 
(Camden 1. 88.) It is usually identified with Cosham, Hant- 
shire. {Two Chr. 2. 356.) 



92 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Cossack. Decl. Poland 8. 462 (4 times). 

The Cossacks of the Ukraine, then part of Poland. 

Cotimia (Chocimum). Decl. Poland 8. 461 (twice), 463, 464. 

Khotin or Chocim, a town in Bessarabia on the River Dniester, 
where Sobieski defeated the Turks in 1673. 

Coway Stakes. See Oatlands. 

Cracovia. Rami Vita 7. 185; Decl. Poland 8. 458 (thrice), 464, 

466 (twice), 467. 

Cracow, once the capital of Poland, at the head of navigation 
on the Vistula. 

Cracow. See Cracovia. 

Craford (Creganford). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 117. 

Crayford, Kent, the Crecganford of Chronicle 457. 

Crapulia. Animadv. (3. 37) 3. 213. 

An imaginary region described in Bishop Hall's Mundus Alter 
et Idem 1 . 

Crayford. See Craford. 

Crecklad (Creclad). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 214, 256. 
Cricklade, Wiltshire. 

Creet (Crete). P. L. 1. 514; P. R. 4. 118; Animadv. (13. 76) 
3. 225 (twice); Areopag. 4. 401; Rami Vita 7. 184. (See 
also Cydonius, Dictaean, Ida.) 
An island southeast of Greece. Cretan wines are mentioned 

by Pliny (14. 9). 

Creganford. See Craford. 

Cremona. Passion 26. 

A city of Italy, on the left bank of the Po. It was the birth- 
place of Vida, author of the Christiad. 

Cressy. Commonplace 242. 

A village in the department of the Somme, in northern France, 
where the English under Edward III defeated the French under 
Philip VI. 

Crete. See Creet. 

Cricklade. See Crecklad. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 93 

Crim. Decl. Poland 8. 463; Moscovta (1) 8. 471, 475. (See 

also Nagay.) 

The name is preserved in the name of the Crimea, the peninsula 
of southern Russia. Formerly it was applied to the region north 
of the peninsula, inhabited by Tartars. It is so used on Jenkin- 
son's map of Russia. (Ortelius, p. 99.) 

Croiland. See Croyland. 

Cronian Sea (Glacialis Oceanus, Northern Ocean). P. L. 10. 

290; Reformation (2) 3. 69; 1 Defens. (5) 6. 99; Moscovia 

(5) 8. 502. 

The Arctic Ocean. Dionysius Periegetes, who makes it the 
northern division of the circumfiuent ocean, says of it: "Toward 
the north, where are the children of the Arimaspians, full of 
warlike frenzy, some call the sea the frozen, and Cronian, and 
others indeed call it also dead, because of the powerless sun, for 
tardily over that sea he shines, and always he is magnified in 
shady clouds. " (LI. 30-35.) The voyages described in Mo.ycoz^m 
5 were all to the Arctic Ocean, which was at that time the only 
part of the ocean bordering upon Russia. For the "mountains 
of ice" on the Cronian Sea, see the article Vaiguts. 

Croyland (Croiland). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 199, 225, 233. 
A monastery in Lincolnshire. 

Ctesiphon (Tesiphon). P. R. 3. 292, 300. 

An ancient city on the River Tigris. Pliny writes of it: "The 
Parthians in despight againe of this citie [Seleucia], and for to 
doe the like by it, as sometime was done to the old Babylon, built 
the Citie Ctesiphon within three miles of it, in the tract called 
Chalonitis, even to dispeople and impoverish it, which now at 
this present is the head citie of the kingdome. " (6. 26.) Strabo 
says of it: "Near this [Seleucia] is a very large village called 
Ctesiphon, in which the kings of the Parthians spend the winter, 
to spare the inhabitants of Seleucia, lest they should be annoyed 
by a Scythian and warlike people. But on account of the Par- 
thian power, it is a city rather than a village, because it receives 
such a great multitude, and is provided by them with supplies, 
and has the trades and arts needful for them. There the kings 
of the Parthians are in the habit of spending the winter because 
of the mild air." (16. 1. 16.) 



94 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

CuUen (Colonia, Coloniensis). Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 80; Hirelings 
5. 357; Commonplace 112; Sixteen Let. 3 (twice). 
Cologne, a city of Germany on the west bank of the Rhine. 

Culma. Decl. Poland 8. 467. 

Kulm, a town on the Vistula, now included in West Prussia. 

Cumanagota. Contra Hisp. 7. 360. 

In the seventeenth century a town of northern Venezuela, 
on the River Neveri, a few leagues from the sea. It is represented 
as on the coast on Blaeu's map of Venezuela. (P. 277.) In 1671 it 
was united with Barcelona on the site now occupied by the latter. 
(J. J. D. Lavaysse, Voyage . . . dans Diver ses Parties de Vene- 
zuela, Paris, 1813, vol. 2, p. 238; Leonard V. Dalton, Venezuela, 
London, 1912, p. 199.) 

Cumberland. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 175; (5) 5. 196, 219, 223, 228, 233; 
(6) 5. 244. 
The most northwestern county of England. 

Cusco. P. L. 11. 408. (See also India West, Peru.) 

Cuzco, the capital of Peru, conquered by Pizarro in 1533. 
Purchas gives the following account of it: "One of the prin- 
cipallest Idols of that Empire was Cosco, the Imperiall Citie, 
which the Indians worshipped as a thing sacred, . . . because 
it was the house and court of the Incas their gods. If an Indian 
in the way met another which came from Cozco, though other- 
wise equall, and now he himselfe were going thither, he gave him 
respect therefore as his superiour for having been there; how 
much more if he were a neere dweller, or Citizen there! ... To 
hold it still in reputation, the King adorned it with sumptuous 
buildings, of which the principall was the Temple of the Sunne, 
every Inca increasing it. The Chappell or shrine of the Sunne 
was that which is now the Church of Saint Domingo . . . 
wrought of polished stone. ... All foure wals were covered 
from the top to the bottome with Plates of Gold. In the East or 
high Altar stood the figure of the Sunne, made of one planke or 
plate of Gold, twice as thicke as the other plates on the wals; 
the face round, with rayes and flames of fire, all of a peece. It 
was so great that it tooke up all the end from one wall to the 
other. . . . This Idoll fell by lot, in the Spanish Conquerours 
sharing, to one Mancio Serra. ... By such a share falling to 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 95 

one may may be guessed the exceeding riches of that Citie . . . 
Without the Temple, on the top of the wals ran all alongst a 
chamfred worke of gold in forme of a Crowne, above a yard 
broad, round about the Temple." {Pilgrimes 4. 1464.) 

Cyclades. P. L. 5. 264. (See also Delos.) 

A group of islands in the ^Egean Sea. Strabo gives them as 
twelve or fifteen in number. (10. 5. 3.) 

Cydonius. Eleg. 7. 37. (See also Greet.) 

Of Cydonia, a town on the north coast of Crete. Milton uses 
the word to mean Cretan. 

Cyllene. Arcades 98. 

A mountain in Arcadia, sacred to Hermes, who was called 
Cyllenius. {Eleg. 2. 13.) With Milton's adjective "hoar," 
or snow-covered, cf. Virgil's "gelidus vertex." (Mneid 8. 139.) 

Cymenshore. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 120. 

Shoreham, Sussex. (Two Chr. 2. 11.) Camden puts it near 
Wittering. (1. 188.) 

Cypres (Cyprus). Eleg. 1. 84; Eikonocl. (17) 3. 464. (See also 

Paphos.) 

An island south of Asia Minor. It was associated with the 
worship of Venus, sometimes called Cypris. (Eleg. 3. 20; 7. 11; 
Nat. Non 63.) 

Cyprus. See Cypres. 

Cyrene. P. L. 2. 904; Education 4. 390; Areopag. 4. 401. 

(See also Barca.) 

An ancient city of northern Africa, in the country now called 
Tripoli. It was a seat of Greek learning. The name Cyrenaica 
was applied to the district, nearly corresponding to the modern 
Barca, under the rule of Cyrene. The immediate neighborhood 
of the city was fertile, but to the south were deserts. Lucan 
describes a sand-storm in the neighborhood of Cyrene as follows : 

Then with fresh might he [Auster] fell upon the host 
Of marching Romans, snatching from their feet 
The sand they trod. Had Auster been enclosed 
In some vast cavernous vault with solid walls 
And mighty barriers, he had moved the world 
Upon its ancient base and made the lands 



96 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

To tremble: but the facile Libyan soil 
By not resisting stood, and blasts that whirled 
The surface upwards left the depths unmoved. ... 
Fearing the storm, prone fell the host to earth 
Winding their garments tight, and with clenched hands 
Gripping the earth: for not their weight alone 
Withstood the tempest which upon their frames 
Piled mighty heaps, and their recumbent limbs 
Buried in sand. (Pharsalia 9. 463-86.) 

Czenstochowa. See Sieciethovia. 
Czerniechovia. Decl. Poland 8. 466. 

Czernichowce, a village of Galicia, in the region of Tamopol. 

Dacor (Dacre). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 223. 

A place in Cumberland, on the River Eamont. 

Damascus (Damasco). Eleg. 4. 116; P. L. 1. 468, 584; Notes: 

Grif. 5. 391. (See also Abbana.) 

An ancient city of Syria, east of the Anti-Lebanons, on the 
edge of the desert, for ages celebrated for its beauty and pros- 
perity. William Biddulph, who visited it in the year 1600, 
writes: "Damascus is a most ancient city, and as Esay spake of 
it in his time: 'The head of Aram is Damascus' (Isaiah 7. 8), so 
Damascus is the chiefest Citie of Syria to this day. The situation 
thereof is most pleasant, being built on a plaine ground, strongly 
walled about, and a strong Castle therein, with many fine Rivers 
running on every side of it, especilly Abanah and Pharpar, men- 
tioned 2 Kings 5, which are now divided into many heads. The 
Turkes say that their Prophet Mahomet was once at Damascus, 
and that when he saw the pleasant situation of it, and beheld 
the stately prospect of it, excelling all others that ever hee saw 
before, refused to enter into the Citie, lest the pleasantnesse 
thereof should ravish him, and move him there to settle an 
Earthly Paradise, and hinder his desire of the heavenly Paradise. 
It hath also many pleasant Orchards, and Gardens round about 
the Citie, and some wayes for the space of a mile and more about 
the Citie there are many Orchards, and great variety of fruits. 
. . . Damascus is called . . . the Garden of Turkic, because 
there is no place in all the Turkes Dominions, that yeeldeth such 
abundance of Fruit." (Pilgrimes 2. 1347.) Ariosto describes 
Damascus, and tells of a tournament held there: 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 97 

These three unto Damasco came togither, 
The fair'st and richest towne of all the East, 
What time great lords and knights repaired thither, 
Allured by the fame of such a feast. 
I told you from the holy citie thither. 
Was five or sixe dayes journey at the least: 
But all the townes about both small and great, 
Are not like this for state and fruitful! seat. 

For first, beside the cleare and temprat aire, 
Not noid with sommers heat nor winters cold. 
There are great store of buildings large and faire. 
Of carved stone most stately to behold, 
The streets all pav'd where is their most repaire, 
And all the ground is of so fruitfull mold. 
That all the yeare their spring doth seeme to last. 
And brings them store of fruits of daintie tast. 

Above the Citie lies a little hill. 

That shades the morning sunne in erly hours. 

Of waters sweet (which here we use to still) 

They make such store with spice and juyce of flowrs 

As for the quantitie might drive a mill. 

Their gardens have faire walks and shady bowrs, 

But (that which chief maintaineth all the sweets) 

Two christall streames do runne amid the streets. 

{Orlando Furioso 17. 12-14.) 

Milton refers to Damascus in connection with the following 
Biblical narratives: the story of Naaman the leper (2 Kings 5); 
the obtaining of the pattern of an altar of the Syrian fashion by 
King Ahaz (2 Kings 16. 10-16); the invasion of Palestine by 
Benhadad king of Syria (1 Kings 20). 

Damiata. P. L. 2. 593. 

Damietta, a city near the Mediterranean, on the right bank of 
the eastern branch of the Nile. Matthew Paris, who mentions 
it often in his accounts of the Crusades, calls it "the key of all 
Egypt." (a.d. 1219.) A traveler who visited it in 1580 writes: 
"More within the lande by the rivers side is Damiata an auncient 
citie environed with walles contayning five miles in circuit. . . . 
This citie is very large, delightfull, and pleasant, abounding with 
gardens and faire fountaines." (Hak. 2. 1. 200.) 

Damietta. See Damiata. 

1. Dan. P. L. 1. 485: P. R. 3. 431; Reformation (2) 3. 35. 
(See also Paneas.) 



98 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

A former city of northern Palestine at the headwaters of the 
Jordan. Its site is now usually said to have been at Tell el- 
Kadi, though in Milton's day it was thought to have been 
at Paneas. (G. A. Smith, Hist. Geog. of the Holy Land, p. 
473.) See 1 Kings 12. 28-30 for its connection with the idola- 
trous worship established by Jeroboam. 

2. Dan. P. L. 9. 1059; Samson 332, 976, 1436; MS. 2. 110. 

One of the tribes of Israel whose territory was northwest of 
that of Judah, and extended to the sea. See Judges 13.25 for 
the "Camp of Dan." 

Danaw. See Danubius. 

Dania. See Denmark. 

Dantiscus. Lit. Oliv. (21) 7. 263. 

Danzig, a port of Prussia on the Vistula. Cf. Lit. Senat. (15). 

Danubius (Danaw). P. L. 1. 353; P. R. 4. 79; Hist. Brit. 

(5) 5. 198, 202. 

A river rising in southern Germany and flowing southeast into 
the Black Sea. It was for a long period a boundary of the 
Roman Empire. Mela makes it one of the boundaries of Sar- 
matia. (3. 4.) 

Danzig. See Dantiscus. 

Daphne. P. L. 4. 273. 

A place on the river Orontes, near Antioch in Syria, where there 
was a famous temple of Apollo. Sozomen describes it as follows: 
"Daphne is a suburb of Antioch, and is planted with cypresses 
and other trees, beneath which all kinds of flowers flourish in 
their season. The branches of these trees are so thick and inter- 
laced that they may be said to form a roof rather than merely 
to afford shade, and the rays of the sun can never pierce through 
them to the soil beneath. It is made delicious and exceedingly 
lovely by the richness and beauty of the waters, the temperate- 
ness of the air, and the breath of friendly winds. The Greeks 
invent the myth that Daphne, the daughter of the river Ladon, 
was here changed into a tree which bears her name, while she 
was fleeing from Arcadia, to evade the love of Apollo. The 
passion of Apollo was not diminished they say, by this trans- 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 99 

formation; he made a crown of the leaves of his beloved and 
embraced the tree. He afterwards fixed his residence on this 
spot, as being dearer to him than any other place. Men of 
grave temperament, however, considered it disgraceful to ap- 
proach this suburb, for the position and nature of the place 
seemed to excite voluptuous feelings, and the substance of the 
fable itself being erotic, afforded a measurable impulse and 
redoubled the passions among corrupt youths. They who fur- 
nished this myth as an excuse were greatly inflamed and gave 
way without constraint to profligate deeds, incapable of being 
continent themselves, or of enduring the presence of those who 
were continent. Any one who dwelt at Daphne without a mis- 
tress was regarded as callous and ungracious, and was shunned 
as an abominable and abhorrent thing. The pagans likewise 
manifested great reverence for this place on account of a very 
beautiful statue of the Daphnic Apollo which stood here, as also 
a magnificent and costly temple, supposed to have been built 
by Seleucus, the father of Antiochus, who gave his name to the 
city of Antioch. Those who attach credit to fables of this kind 
believe that a stream flows from the fountain Castalia which 
confers powers of predicting the future, which is similar in its 
name and powers to the fountains of Delphi." (5. 19.) Libanius 
gives a detailed description of this garden, part of which is as 
follows: " It never has been nor will be spoken worthily concern- 
ing Daphne, unless it should come into the mind of the God and 
the Muses to sing of the place. . . . The beholder is dazzled by 
the sight of the temple of Apollo, the temple of Zeus, the Olympic 
stadium, the theatre of every delight, the multitude and thick- 
ness and height of the cypresses, the shady paths, the places of 
singing birds, the moderate breezes, the courteous men moving 
slowly toward banqueting halls, gardens of Alcinous, the 
Sicilian table, the horn of Amalthea, a complete banquet, 
Sybaris. . . . The fountains of Daphne are the chief of the 
beauties not only of the grove, but of the whole world." {Oration 
11, Antiocheiis, Sect. 235 fif.) Purchas also gives an account of 
Daphne. {Pilgrimage, ed. 1626, p. 71.) For other references 
see the Latin poem of ^tna, ed. H. A. J. Munro, p. 41. 

Darby (Derby). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 216, 228; (6) 5. 276. 
The chief town of Derbyshire. 



100 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Darbyshire. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 203. 

Derbyshire, a county of central England. 

Dardania. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 84. 

A district in the southwestern part of ancient Moesia, now 
southern Serbia. 
Dardanius. Eleg. 1. 73; Damon. 162. (See also Troy.) 

Pertaining to Dardanus; poetical for Trojan. 

Darien. P. L. 9. 81. 

The Isthmus of Panama. In the words "the Ocean barr'd 
at Darien " Milton refers to the Isthmus as blocking the way from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Spaniards brought the product 
of the mines of Peru across the Isthmus for shipment to Spain, 
instead of sending them around Cape Horn. Sir Francis Drake 
visited Darien in his attacks on the Spanish. Purchas refers 
to Drake's first view of the Pacific as follows : ' ' When he travelled 
over those Mountaynes hee beheld thence the South Sea, and 
thereby inflamed with desire of glory and wealth, was so rapt 
with desire of sayling therein, that he fell there on his knees, 
and begged of God, and besought the favour of God to assist 
him in that exploit, and made a solemne vow to that purpose, 
one day to sayle on that Sea, which every day and night lay 
next his heart, pricking him forwards to the performance." 
{Ptlgrimes 4. 1180.) The project of a canal to remove this bar 
was early suggested. Heylyn writes: "Certain it is that many 
have motioned to the Councel of Spain, the cutting of a navigable 
channel through this small Isthmus, so as to shorten their com- 
mon voyages to China, and the Moluccoes. But the Kings of 
Spain have not hitherto attempted it." (Cosmography 4. 102.) 

Dartmouth. See Dertmouth. 

Darwen. Cromwell 7. 

"Not the Derwent in Derbyshire, as some commentators have 
imagined, but the Darwen in Lancashire, which falls into the 
Ribble near Preston. It was in that neighborhood, and over 
the ground traversed by the Ribble and its tributaries, that 
Cromwell fought his famous three days' battle of Preston, Aug. 
17-19, 1648, in which he utterly routed the Scottish invading 
Army under the Duke of Hamilton. The stream, and a bridge 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 101 

over it where there was hard fighting, are mentioned in Crom- 
well's own letter of Aug. 20, 1648, to Speaker Lenthall, describing 
the battle; and Mr. Carlyle, in a note to that letter, has given a 
list of the various tributaries to the Ribble, the Darwen included, 
in illustration of the range of the battle. As the Darwen is not 
marked in ordinary maps of Lancashire, commentators have 
denied the existence of such a Lancashire stream, and supposed 
that Milton meant the Ribble, but forgot its name and put that 
of the Derbyshire Derwent instead. Here again one sees that 
it is unsafe to doubt Milton's accuracy." (Masson, Milton's 
Poems 3. 291.) The Darwen is shown on the map preceding 
the Seven and Twentieth Song of Drayton's Polyolhion, and he 
puts in the mouth of the River Ribble the words: 

whereat my going downe, 
Cleere Darwen on along me to the Sea doth drive. 

1. Darwent. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 116. (See also Craford.) 

A river of Kent, uniting with the Cray to flow into the Thames. 
Near the junction of these streams was fought the battle of 
Cray ford. 

2. Darwent (Derwent). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 148; (6) 5. 296. 
(See also Stamford Bridge.) 

A river of Yorkshire, flowing into the Ouse, on the banks of 
which was fought the battle of Stamford Bridge. 

Daunius, Ad Rous. 10. 

Daunia is a poetical name of Apulia. Milton evidently uses 
the adjective to mean Italian. 

Davenport. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 221. 
A town in Cheshire. 

Dead Sea. See Asphaltic Pool. 

Deal. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 32. 

A seaport of Kent, eight miles northeast of Dover. Camden, 
to whose account of Deal Milton refers in a note, writes: "At 
Deal, which Nennius, and I believe rightly, calls Dole, a name 
still given by our Britans to an open plain on a river or the sea, 
tradition affirms Caesar landed. . . . Caesar himself gives it 
weight when he says he landed on an open plain shore." (1. 218.) 



102 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Decan. P. L. 9. 1103. (See also Malabar.) 

Deccan, a name now applied to the peninsula of Hindustan. 
Linschoten defines it as the country "lying behind Goa" {Pil- 
grimes 2. 1764), that is, inland from Goa, a port on the western 
coast. 

Dee. See Deva. 
Deerhurst. See Deorhurst. 
Degsastan. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 141. 

An unidentified place in northern England or southern Scot- 
land. 

Deira. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 128, 134; (4) 5. 137, 146, 153, 157, 160; 

MS. 2. 113. 

The southern part of ancient Northumbria. Holinshed bounds 
Deira on the north by the Tyne, and on the south by the Hum- 
ber. (1. 584.) 

Delf. Areopag. 4. 414. 

Delft, a town in South Holland. 

Delius. See Delos. 

Dell. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 15. 
An unidentified place in Hainaut, Belgium. 

Delmenhorst. Safe-cond. 
A town of the grand duchy of Oldenburg, Germany. 

Delos. Mansus 45; Ad Rous. 65; P. L. 5. 265; 10. 296. (See 

also Cyclades.) 

The smallest of the Cyclades, in antiquity famous as a centre 
of the worship of Apollo, who was often called Delius (as in 
Eleg. 5. 13, 14). Delos was believed to have been a floating 
island until, that it might be the birthplace of Apollo and Diana 
(called Delia in Nat. Non 49), Zeus fixed it to the bottom of the 
sea with chains of adamant. Hence it was believed to be firmer 
than other islands, never shaken by earthquakes. Pindar, for 
example, calls it "wide earth's immovable marvel." {Fragment 
in Honor of Delos.) 

Delphi. See Delphos. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 103 

Delphinatus. Lit. Oliv. (8) 7. 245. 

The Dauphinate, one of the old provinces of France, between 
Provence and Savoy. 

Delphos (Delphi, Pythian Vale). Nativity 178; Ad Rous. 59; 

P. L. 1. 517; 10. 530; P. R. 1. 458; 2 Defens. 6. 269. (See 

also Pythian Fields.) 

A town in Phocis, famous for its oracle of Apollo. Milton's 
words "steep" and " cliff " probably refer to the steep cliffs 
rising above Delphi. The word "hollow" {Nativity 178) may 
refer to the cave or subterranean chamber which formed the 
inner part of the shrine (Ovid calls it "antrum" in Met. 3. 14), or 
to the chasm from which arose intoxicating vapors (Diodorus 
16.6), which had caused the place to be chosen for the oracle; 
or. perhaps Milton, when he wrote 

With hollow shreik the steep of Delphos leaving, 

had in mind the words of Strabo about Delphi, "a rocky place, 
shaped like a theatre, having at the highest point the fane and 
the city" (9. 3. 3), and intended to express the effect produced 
upon the voice in a rocky amphitheatre, rather than in cave or 
chasm, as would be the case if the first conjectures are correct. 
The birth of the monster Python, apparently at Delphi (P. L. 
10. 530), where it was killed by Apollo, is described by Ovid. 
{Met. 1. 416-51.) 

Demetia. See Wales. 
Denbigh-Shire. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 219. 

A county of north Wales, bordering on the Irish Sea. 
Denisburn. See Heav'n Field. 

Denmark (Dania). Eikonocl. (10) 3. 410 (twice); (21) 3. 483; 
Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 280; Bucer: Divorce (Pari.) 4. 295; 
Kings & Mag. 4. 487; Hist. Brit. (3) 5. Ill, 112, 120; (4) 
5. 179; (5) 5. 189, 202; (6) 5. 254, 255, 264, 265 (twice), 266, 
267, 269, 271 (twice), 275, 276 (twice), 284; Lit. Senat. (30) 
7. 218 (twice); (30) 7. 219 (thrice); Lit. Oliv. (21) 7. 264; 
(49) 7. 299; (55) 7. 304; (65) 7. 315; Lit. Rest. Pari. (1) 
7.343; Moscovia (4) 8. 494; (5)8.504. 
In the time of Milton Denmark was more important politically 

than now, and its king ruled part of the Scandinavian peninsula. 

It was one of the Protestant powers of Europe. 



104 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Deomed. See Wales. 

Deorhirst. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 260. (See also Alney.) 

Deerhurst, near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. (Camden 1. 
261.) 

Deorrham. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 134. 

Dyrham, Gloucestershire. (Camden 1. 263.) 
Deptford. See Detford. 
Derby. See Darby. 
Derriensis Portus. See Londonderry. 

Dartmouth. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 277. 
Dartmouth, Devonshire. 

Derwent. See 2. Darwent. 

Desert. See Wilderness. 

Desvergonia. Apology 3. 267. 

An imaginary city described by Bishop, Hall in his Mundus 
Alter et Idem 2.5. 

Detford. Apology (6) 3. 294. 

A place in Kent, near London, of which Camden says: "The 
Thames . . . leaving Surrey, and by a winding course almost 
returning back on itself again, first visits Deptford, a noted dock 
where the king's ships are built and repaired, and where is a 
noble store-house, and a kind of college for the use of the navy." 
(1. 210.) 

Deva (Dee). Lycidas 55; Vacat. Ex. 98; Eleg. 1. 3; Hist. Brit. 

(5) 5. 233. 

The River Dee, flowing northward into the Irish Sea, was the 
ancient boundary of Wales and England. Giraldus Cambrensis 
writes: "As the river Wye towards the south separates Wales 
from England, so the Dee near Chester forms the northern 
boundary. The inhabitants of these parts assert that the waters 
of this river change their fords every month, and as it inclines 
more towards England or Wales, they can, with certainty, prog- 
nosticate which nation will be successful or unfortunate during 
the year." (Jtinerarium 2. 11.) Spenser writes as follows: 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 105 

And . . . Dee, which Britons long ygone 
Did call divine, that doth by Chester tend. 

{F. Q. 4. W. 39.) 

Devonshire. Divorce (Pref.) 4. 11; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 12; (3) 
5. 132, 193, 205, 208, 216, 234; (6) 5. 240, 241, 243, 244, 246, 
253, 282; MS. 2. 114. 
A county of southwestern England, bordering on the Channel. 

Dictaean. P. L. 10. 584. (See also Greet, Ida.) 

Dicte is a mountain in eastern Crete, associated with legends 
of Zeus, whom Virgil calls the "Dictaean king." {Georgics 2. 
536.) 

Diepa. Lit. Oliv. (38) 7. 285 (thrice). 

Dieppe, a French city on the English Channel. 

Dike. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 214. 

The great rampart of earth, called Rech Dyke, Devil's Dike, 
etc., stretching across Newmarket Heath, which, as Drayton 
says, "beginneth at Rech and endeth at Cowlidge." He gives a 
full description of it, and mentions the other dykes in the vicinity, 
in Polyolhion 21. Uncertainty about the situation of this and 
the other dykes in the region implied in the sentence, "The King 
with his powers makeing speed after them, between the Dike 
and Ouse, suppos'd to be Suffolk and Cambridge-shire, as far 
as the Fenns Northward, laid waste all before him," can hardly 
be attributed to Milton. His doubt must lie in uncertainty 
about the translation of the Old English word dicum in the 
Chronicle 905, from which he takes his account. He translates 
the word, though it is plural, by a singular noun. The dyke is 
described by contemporary writers besides Drayton, and is 
to this day a striking feature of the country which it crosses, 

Dircaeus. 2 Leonor. 7; Idea Platon. 26. (See also Aonian.) 

The Dirce is a small stream just west of Thebes. The adjec- 
tive is used to mean Theban or Boeotian {e. g., Horace, Odes 4. 2. 
25). The "Dircaean augur" is Teiresias. Cf. P. L. 3. 36; 2 
Defens. 6. 267. 

Ditmarsia. Safe-cond. (thrice). 

A district of Germany on the North Sea, bounded by the Elbe 
on the south and the Eider on the north. 



106 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Dodona. P. L. 1. 518; 8 Prolus. 7. 469. 

A town in Epirus celebrated for its oracle of Zeus. The will 
of the god was supposed to be ascertained by observing the 
rustlings of the leaves of a sacred oak-tree. Homer writes of 
Odysseus that he had gone "to Dodona to hear the counsel of 
Zeus, from the high leafy oak tree of the god." {Odyssey 19. 
296.) 

1. Don. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 181. 

A river flowing into the Tyne at Jarrow, Durham. 

2. Don. See Dun. 

Dorchester. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 155, 179; (6) 5. 278. 
The chief town of Dorsetshire, on the River Frome. 

Doric Land. See Greece. 

Doroverne. See Canterbury. 

Dorsetshire. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 145; (5) 191, 192, 193, 214; (6) 
5. 243, 244, 256, 258, 282. 
A county of southwestern England, bordering on the Channel. 

Dothaim. See Dothan. 

Dothan (Dothaim). P. L. 11. 217; MS. 2. 111. 

An ancient city of Palestine, on a mound about ten miles 
north of ancient Samaria. See 2 Kings 6. 17. 

Dover. Apology (1) 3. 277; Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 278, 289. 
A seaport of Kent, on the Straits of Dover, 

Drepanum. Contra Hisp. 7. 361. 

A town on the west coast of Sicily. 
Dublin. Ormond 4. 555, 561, 566; Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 224, 234. 

The capital of Ireland. 

Duina. Moscovia (1) 8. 472 (3 times), 473, 474 (twice); (4) 

8. 501. (See also Colmogro, Pinega.) 

A river of northern Russia, flowing into the White Sea. It is 
described in Hakluyt thus : " The river is called Dwina, very large, 
but shallow. This river taketh his beginning about 700 miles 
within the countrey." (1. 376.) Jenkinson describes as follows 
the boats on the River Dwina mentioned by Milton: "These 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 107 

vessels called Nassades are very long builded, broade made, and 
close above, flatte bottomed, and draw not above foure foote 
water, and will carrie two hundred tunnes: they have none iron 
appertaining to them but all of timber, and when the wind serveth, 
they are made to sayle. Otherwise they have many men, some 
to hale and drawe by the neckes with long small ropes made fast 
to the sayd boats, and some set with long poles. There are many 
of these barks upon the river of Dwina." (Hak. 1. 312.) 

Dulichium. Eleg. 6. 72. 

Frequently mentioned in the Odyssey as one of the islands 
subject to Odysseus. It is not surely identified, but must have 
been near the island of Ithaca. 

Dumbarrensis. See Dunbar. 

Dumbarton. See Dunbritton. 

Dun. Vacat. Ex. 92. 

The Dun, or Don, is a river of England, an afifluent of the 
Ouse, which is a tributary of the Humber. Drayton puts in 
the mouth of the West Riding of Yorkshire the following address 
to the Don : 

Thou first of all my Floods, whose Banks doe bound my South, 

And offrest up thy Streame to mightie Humbers mouth, . . . 

From thy cleare Fountaine first through many a Mead dost play, . . . 

tow'rds Doncaster doth drive, . . . 

when holding on her race. 
She dancing in and out, indenteth Hatfield Chase. 

{Polyolbion 28. ~) 

He also speaks of the Don as "lively," and calls her course 
"lusty." 

Dunbar (Dumbarrensis). Cromwell 8; 2 Defens. 6. 308. 

A seaport in Haddingtonshire, Scotland, near the mouth of 
the Firth of Forth, where the Scotch under Leslie were defeated 
by Cromwell, September 3, 1650. 

Dunbritton (Alcluith). Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 67; (3) 5. 102 (twice); 

(4) 5. 175; (5) 5. 196. (See also Wall.) 

Dunbritton, the ancient Alcluith, now called Dumbarton, is 
a town of Scotland on the northern shore of the Firth of Clyde, 
at the influx of the Leven. The Firth itself was formerly known 
as the Firth of Dunbritton, and to the Romans as Glota. 



108 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Dunedham. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 277. 

Apparently a place in Gloucestershire between the Rivers 
Wye and Severn. Florence of Worcester, from whom Milton, 
as he indicates in a note, takes the name of the place, calls it 
Dymedham. (Freeman, Norman Conquest 2. 571.) 

Dunf coder. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 222. 

Now Dunfother or Dunnotar, Kincardineshire, Scotland. ( Two 
Chr. 2. 364.) Milton refers in a note to Simeon of Durham, A. D. 
934. 

Duni. Lit. Senat. (22) 7. 207; (32) 7. 220. 

The Downs, the waters between the mainland of Kent and 
the Goodwin Sands. 

Dunkirka. Lit. Oliv. (25) 7. 268 (twice); (43) 7. 290; (72) 
7. 323; (73) 7. 323; (75) 7. 326; Contra Hisp. 7. 359 (thrice); 
Sixteen Let. 5, 6. 
Dunkirk, a seaport of France on the Straits of Dover. 

Dunnotar. See Dunfeoder. 

Durham. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 172; (6) 5. 242, 257 (thrice), 292. 
The chief city of the County of Durham. 

Dyrham. See Deorrham. 

East-Angles. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 156, 160 (twice), 180, 186 
(twice), 187; (5) 5. 192, 195, 200, 206 (twice), 208, 209, 210 
(twice), 214, 217, 218 (twice); (6) 5. 238 (twice), 250, 
260. 
East Anglia, the ancient English kingdom comprising what is 

now Norfolk and SufTolk. 

East Cheap. Apology (6) 3. 294. 

A street in London, thus described by John Stow: "The 
streete of great Eastcheape is so called of the Market there kept, 
in the East part of the Citie, as West Cheape is a Market so 
called of being in the West. This Eastcheape is now a flesh 
Market of Butchers there dwelling, on both sides of the streete; 
it had sometime also Cookes mixed amongst the Butchers, and 
such other as solde victuals readie dressed of all sorts. For of 
olde time when friends did meet, and were disposed to be merrie, 
they went not to dine and suppe in Taverns, but to the Cookes, 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 109 

where they called for meat what them liked, which they alwayes 
found ready dressed at a reasonable rate." (1. 216-217.) 

East-France. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 206. 

The Carolingian kingdom which, after the death of Charle- 
magne, was made up of the eastern part of his empire. It in- 
cluded part of the Netherlands and extended south into Italy. 

East-Saxons. See Essex. 

Eboracum. See York. 

Eburones. Rami Vita 7. 178. 

The Eburones of the time of Caesar occupied what is now 
Liege, the home of the family of Ramus, in Belgium. 

Ecbatana (Ecbatan). P. L. 11. 393; P. R. 3. 286. 

An ancient city of Media, now generally called by the Persian 
name of Hamadan. Milton incorrectly identifies it with the 
modern Tabriz (Tauris, g. v.). Herodotus gives the following 
description of the city: "Deiokes was much put forward and 
commended by every one, until at last they agreed that he should 
be their king. . . . And when he had obtained the rule over them, 
he compelled the Medes to make one fortified city and pay chief 
attention to this, having less regard to the other cities. Arni 
as the Medes obeyed him in this also, he built large and strong 
walls, those which are now called Agbatana, standing in circles 
one within the other. And this wall is so contrived that one 
circle is higher than the next by the height of the battlements 
alone. And to some extent, I suppose, the nature of the ground, 
seeing that it is on a hill, assists towards this end; but much 
more was it produced by art, since the circles are in all seven in 
number. And within the last circle are the royal palace and the 
treasure-houses. The largest of these walls is in size about 
equal to the circuit of the wall round Athens; and of the first 
circle the battlements are white, of the second black, of the third 
crimson, of the fourth blue, of the fifth red: thus are the battle- 
ments of all the circles colored with various tints, and the last 
two have their battlements one of them overlaid with silver and 
the other with gold." (1. 98). Xenophon says that Ecbatana 
was the summer residence of the kings of Persia. {Cyropcedia 
8. 6. 22.) 



110 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Ecbryt Stone. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 205. (See also Selwood.) 

The situation of this place, mentioned in the Chronicle 878, 
is uncertain. {Two Chr. 2. 373.) 

Echionius. See 1. Thebes. 

Ecron. See Accaron. 

Edel. See Volga. 

Edelingsey. See Athelney. 

Eden. P. L. 1. 4; 4. Arg., 27, 132, 210, 223, 275, 507, 569; 5. 
143; 6. 75; 7. 65, 582; 8. 113; 9. 54, 77, 193, 341; 10. 89; 
11. 119, 342; 12. 40, 465, 649; P. R. 1. 7; Logic (1. 24) 7. 78. 
(See also Alcinous, Amara, Auran, Daphne, Euphrates, India, 
Nysean Isle, Pontus, Punic Coast, Seleucia, Telessar, Tigris.) 
A large tract of country in which the Earthly Paradise was 

situated. Milton defines it as follows: 

Eden stretched her Line 
From Auran Eastward to the Royal Towrs 
Of Great Seleucia, built by Grecian Kings, 
Or where the Sons of Eden long before 
Dwelt in Telassar. 

{P. L. 4. 210-214.) 

That is, Eden extends from the Euphrates eastward to the 
Tigris; the Tigris flows beneath a mount on which the Earthly 
Paradise is situated. (Genesis 2. 8; P. L. 4. 208-10; 9. 71.) 

Edinburgh (Agned, Alclud, Edinborrow, Castle of Maydens). 
Eikonocl. (4) 3. 367 (twice); Ormond 4. 578; Hist. Brit. (1) 
5. 14, 15, 24; (2) 5. 67, 74; (3) 5. 102. 

Edinburrow, Firth of. See Bodotria. 

Edindon (Ethandune). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 205. 

A town in Wiltshire where, according to Camden, Milton's 
authority, King Alfred overthrew the Danes. (1. 89.) 

Edom (Edomeeus, Edomite). P. R. 2. 423; Animadv. (14. 139) 
3. 239; (15. 141) 3. 240; Eikonocl. (13) 3. 441; Colast. 4. 349; 
1 Defens. (3) 6. 71. 
A country of Syria south of Judea and the Dead Sea. (Psalms 

60. 8; 108. 9.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 111 

Eely. See Ely. 

Eglesburh. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 134. 

Aylesbury, in the Vale of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. 

Eglesthrip (Episford). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 116. (See also Ailsford.) 
Probably a place near Ailsford, Kent. {Two Chr. 2. 11.) 

Egypt (^gypt, ^gypticus, ^Egyptus, Pharian Fields). Ps. 80. 

33; 81. 19, 42; 87. 11; 114. 3; 136. 38; Comus 676; P. L. 

1. 339, 421, 480, 488, 721; 3. 537; 4. 171; 5. 274; 9. 443; 12. 

157, 182, 190, 219; P. R. 2. 76, 79; 3. 379, 384, 417; Animadv. 

(4. 45) 3. 216, 221; Apology (12) 3. 323, 324; Eikonocl. (17) 

3.465,468; Divorce (Pref .) 4. 7 ; (2. 13) 4. 94 (twice); Tetrach. 

(Deut. 24. 1, 2) 4. 180; (Matt. 19. 7, 8) 4. 215 (twice); Rupt. 

Com. 5. 401; Easy Way 5. 452, 454; 1 Defens. (2) 6. 30, 44; 

(3) 6. 62; (5) 6. 101, 103, 106; (12) 6. 185; Lit. Oliv. (57) 

7. 306. (See also Memphis, Nile.) 

Milton's references to Egypt are almost all dependent on the 
Bible, and many of them figurative. He refers most often to 
the sojourn of the children of Israel in the land, and their escape 
from it, related in the Pentateuch and mentioned in many other 
parts of the Bible. 

Eidora. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 111. 

The River Eider, the northern boundary of Holstein. 

Ekron. See AccaroD. 

Elbe. See Elve. 

El Dorado. P. L. 11. 411. (See also Guiana.) 

A fabulous city, in the time of Milton believed to exist in 
the northern part of South America. It is shown, about two 
degrees north of the equator, on Blaeu's map of Guiana published 
in 1662. (P. 259.) Sir Walter Raleigh, who made an expedi- 
tion in search of El Dorado in 1595 and another in 1616, writes: 
"I have bene assured by such of the Spaniards as have scene 
Manoa the Imperial Citie of Guiana, which the Spaniards call 
El Dorado, that for the greatnesse, for the riches, for the excellent 
seat, it farre exceedeth any of the world, or at least of so much 
of the world as is knowen to the Spanish nation: it is founded 
upon a lake of salt water of 200 leagues long like unto Mare 



112 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Caspium." (Hak. 3. 634.) Raleigh then describes the splendor 
of Peru, which he says is far surpassed by that of El Do- 
rado, and gives the following narrative of a Spaniard who was 
supposed to have been in the city: "He avowed at his death 
that he entered the city at Noon . . , and that he travelled all 
that day till night thorow the city, and the next day from Sun 
rising to Sun setting yer he came to the palace of Inga. . . . 
This Martinez was he that Christened the city of Manoa by the 
name of El Dorado, . . . upon this occasion : Those Guianians, 
and also the borderers, and all other in that tract which I have 
scene are marvellous great drunkards, in which vice I think no 
nation can compare with them : and at the times of their solemne 
feasts, when the emperour carowseth with his captaines, tribu- 
taries, and governours, the maner is thus: All those that pledge 
him are first stripped naked, and their bodies anointed all over 
with a kind of white balsamum, by them called curca, of which 
there is great plenty, and yet very deare amongst them, and it 
is of all other the most precious, whereof wee have had good 
experience: when they are anointed all oyer, certeine servants 
of the emperour, having prepared golde made into fine powder, 
blow it thorow hollow canes upon their naked bodies, untill they 
be all shining from the foot to the head : and in this sort they sit 
drinking by twenties and hundreds, and continue in drunkenness 
sometimes sixe or seven dayes together. . . . Upon this sight, 
and for the abundance of golde which he saw in the city, the 
images of golde in their temples, the plates, armours, and shields 
of gold which they use in the warres, he called it El Dorado." 
(Hak. 3. 636.) 

Eldune. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 176. 

Milton follows Simeon of Durham (chap. 43) in placing Eldune 
near Melrose, Scotland. The Eildon Hills are supposed to pre- 
serve the name. 

Eleale. P. L. 1. 411. 

A town of Moab, always associated in the Bible with Heshbon. 
Eusebius places it one Roman mile north of Heshbon. (Onomas- 
ticon, Numbers 32. 3.) See Numbers 32. 3, 37; Isaiah 15. 4. 

Eleus. Eleg. 6. 26. 

Elis is a country on the western coast of Peloponnesus, where, 
on the bank of the River Alpheus, was the temple of Olympian 
Zeus, made famous by the Olympian games. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 113 

Eleusinus. Eleg. 4. 12. 

Pertaining to Eleusis, a city of Attica famous for the celebra- 
tion of the Eleusinian mysteries, of which Triptolemus was the 
hero. 

Eliberis. Tetrach. (Path.) 4. 265. 

Elliberis, a ruined city in Spain, not far from Granada. 

Elie. See Ely. 

Elis. See Eleus. 

Ellandune. See Wilton. 

Elliberis. See Eliberis. 

Elsenora. Lit. Oliv. (21) 7. 263 (twice), 264. 

Elsinore, a seaport of Denmark, on the island of Zealand. 

Elve. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 111. 

The Elbe, a German river flowing into the North Sea, called 
Albis and Elve by Ortelius. (P. 51, map.) 

Elversham. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 15. (See also Renault.) 
An unidentified place in Hainaut. 

Ely (Anguilla, Eely, Elie). Prsesul. El. 14; Apology (1) 3. 277; 

Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 167 (twice); (5) 5. 200; (6) 5. 269, 273. 

A city (Latin, Anguilla) in the northern part of Cambridge- 
shire. 

Emathia. See Macedon. 

England (Anglia, Angleterre, Inghilterra). Sonnet 10. 2; 13. 
2; Eleg. 3. 4; 4. 52; Quint. Nov. 4, 122, 128, 197, 211; Refor- 
mation (1) 3. 1, 5, 6, 7, 25; (2) 3. 35, 37, 39, 40 (twice), 41 
(3 times), 45, 48, 49, 54 (twice), 57, 60, 66; Church-gov. (1. 
PreL) 3. 96 (twice); (1.6) 3. 125, 127; (2. Pref.) 3. 145; (2. 
Cone.) 3. 181; Animadv. (1. 2) 3. 190; (1. 4) 3. 192 (twice); 
(1. 7) 3. 194; (2. 25) 3. 207 (twice); (3. 35) 3. 212; (5. 50) 
3. 223; (13. 76) 3. 226; (13. 127) 3. 232, 233, 239; (16. 38) 
3. 241; (17. 149) 3. 242, 243; Apology 3. 275; (1) 3. 277; 
(11) 3. 315 (twice), 316; Eikonocl. (1) 3. 339, 340; (2) 3. 348 
(twice); (3) 3. 356, 357; (4) 3. 367 (twice), 368; (5) 3. 372; 
(6) 3. 379, 383; (10) 3. 412; (11) 3. 417. 418, 419 (twice). 



114 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

422; (12) 3. 429, 430 (twice), 431, 432, 433, 436, 438, 439; 
(13) 3. 441, 443, 445; (14) 3. 446; (15) 3. 452; (1.7) 3. 466; 
(20)3.478; (22)3.486; (23)3.487; (26)3.502; (27)3.503, 
504, 506, 507, 513, 515; Divorce (Pari.) 4. 1, 3, 11 (twice), 
13; (1. Pref.) 4. 16, 17; (2. 21) 4. 123; Tetrach. 4. 133; (Pari.) 
4. 135, 138, 139, 143; (Gen. 2. 23) 4. 161; (Deut. 24. 1, 2) 
4. 195; (Canon) 4. 274, 278 (twice), 283, 284; Bucer: Divorce 
(Test.) 4. 287, 289 (twice), 291 (twice), 292; (Pari.) 4. 293 
(twice), 298, 299, 301, 303; (15) 4. 306; (PS.) 4. 341 (twice), 
342; Colast. 4. 346 (3 times), 351, 376; Education 4. 388; 
Areopag. 4. 395, 396, 417, 426, 428 (twice), 436; Kings & Mag. 
4. 467 (twice), 471, 472 (twice), 476, 477 (twice), 482, 495 
(twice); Ormond 4. 557 (4 times), 558 (twice), 559, 560, 561, 
563, 565, 569 (twice), 570, 575 (twice), 577 (4 times), 580 
(3 times); Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 123; (4) 5. 140, 164, 171, 181, 183; 
(5) 5. 196, 223, 232, 233; (6) 5. 240 (twice), 245 (twice), 246, 
247, 248 (twice), 253 (twice), 254 (twice), 263, 264, 265 (twice), 
266, 270, 271 (twice), 273, 274, 277, 279, 281, 282, 285, 291, 
292,293,296; Civil Power 5. 302 (twice) ; Hirelings 5. 337, 338, 
358, 363; Notes: Grif. 5. 391, 396, 399; True Relig. 5. 407, 
412 (twice) ; Easy Way 5. 421, 422 (twice), 436, 448; Moscovia 
(1) 8. 475; (5) 8. 502, 505, 508, 514; 1 Defens. (Prsef.) 6. 9; 
(1) 6. 24; (5) 6. 116; (8) 6. 136, 139 (twice), 140, 141 (twice), 
142, 144, 145, 146, 149, 152; (9) 6. 153, 156 (twice), 157, 158, 
162 (twice), 163; (10) 6. 164 (twice), 167, 171; (11) 6. 172, 
174; (12) 6. 178, 180, 182, 184; 1 Defens. 6. 277, 288, 296, 298, 
301, 315, 316, 320 (twice); Pro Se Defens. 6. 338, 339; Rami 
Vita 7. 184; Lit. Senat. (16) 7. 201; (18) 7. 202; (19) 7. 204 
(twice); (25)7.210; (28)7.214; (30)7.218,219; (31)7.219; 
(33) 7. 222; (35) 7. 223; (37) 7. 224; (39) 7. 227, 228; (41) 
7. 232 (twice); (42) 7. 233; (43) 7. 233; Lit. Oliv. (1) 7. 238; 
(59) 7. 309; (78) 7. 329; (79) 7. 330; (80) 7. 331; Lit. Rich. 
(1) 7. 333; (7) 7. 338; Contra Hisp. 7. 349, 350, 356, 357, 359, 
363, 367; Epist. Fam. (9) 7. 383; (21) 7. 399; (28) 7. 407; Com- 
monplace 109 (5 times), 178, 181, 183 (twice), 185, 186, 220, 
242, 244, 245, 249; Sixteen Let. 3, 10, 16; Safe-cond. (twice). 
(See also Britain, Logres.) 

Englefield. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 200. 
A village in Berkshire, near Reading. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 115 

Enna. P. L. 4. 269. 

A city of central Sicily. Milton's description of the Garden 
of Eden is similar to classical descriptions of thq region of Enna, 
and he doubtless borrowed directly from them. Ovid writes: 

Neare Enna walles there standes a Lake; Pergusa is the name. 

Ca^'ster heareth not mo songs of Swannes than doth the same. 

A wood environs everie side the water round about, 

And with his leaves as with a veyle doth keepe the Sunne heate out. 

The boughs do yeelde a coole fresh Ayre: the moystnesse of the grounde 

Yeeldes sundrie flowres: continuall spring is all the yeare there founde. 

While in this garden Proserpine was taking hir pastime, 

In gathering eyther Violets blew, or Lillies white as Lime, 

And while of Maidenly desire she fillde her Maund and Lap, 

Endeavoring to outgather hir companions there, by hap 

Dis spide hir. {Metamorphoses 5. 385-95.) 

The following passage in Diodorus may also be compared with 
Milton's whole description: "The rape [of Proserpina], they say, 
was in the meadows of Enna, not far from the city, a place 
decked with violets, and all sorts of other flowers, affording a 
most beautiful and pleasant prospect. It is said that the fra- 
grancy of the flowers is such that the dogs sent out to hunt the 
game thereby lose the benefit of their sense, and are made in- 
capable by their scent to find out the prey. This meadow- 
ground, in the middle and highest part of it, is champaign and 
well watered, but all the borders round are craggy, guarded with 
high and steep precipices, and is supposed to lie in the very heart 
of Sicily, whence it is called by some the navel of Sicily: near at 
hand are groves, meadows, and gardens, surrounded with 
morasses, and a deep cave, with a passage under ground opening 
towards the north, through which, they say, Pluto passed in his 
chariot when he forced away Proserpine. In this place the 
violets and other sweet flowers flourish continually all the year 
long, and present a pleasant and delightsome prospect to the 
beholders all over the flourishing plain." (5. 3.) Descriptions 
of Enna are also given by Claudian (Rape of Proserpina 2) and 
Cicero (I?t Verrem 4. 48.) 

Epeirot. See Epirot. 

Ephesus. Episcopacy 3. 76 (thrice), 86; Church-gov. (Pref.) 3. 96; 
Animadv. (13. 76) 3. 225; Ormond 4. 567; Moscovia (4) 8. 489. 



116 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

A seaport of Lydia, Asia Minor, on the River Cayster. The 
passages of Scripture on which some of Milton's references 
depend are 1 Timothy 1.3; Acts 18.24-5; 20.28. 

Ephraim. Samson 282, 988. 

Mount Ephraim is that portion of the central highlands of 
Palestine inhabited by the tribe of Ephraim. 

Epidaurus. P. L. 9. 507. 

An ancient town on the eastern coast of the Peloponnesus, 
famous for its temple of Asclepius, who was believed frequently to 
appear in the form of a serpent. 

Epirot (Epeirot). Vane 4; Areopag. 4. 439. 

An inhabitant of Epirus, a country of Greece west of Macedon, 
on the Adriatic. The "Epirot" is Pyrrhus, king of Epirus. 

Epirus. See Epirot. 
Episford. See Eglesthrip. 

Equinoctial Line (Ethiop Line). P. L. 4. 282; 9. 64; 10. 672. 
The Equator. In P. L. 3. 617, and perhaps in P. L. 10. 672, 
Milton refers to the celestial equator. 

Ercoco. P. L. 11. 398. (See also Negus, Empire of.) 

Arkiko, a port on the western shore of the Red Sea, which 
formerly belonged to Abyssinia. Milton's reference to the city 
as the "utmost Port" of the empire of the Negus suggests the 
following passage in Purchas: "It hath no other Port on the red 
Sea, but Ercocco. Neither hath the Prete any other Port but 
this in all his dominion, being Land-locked on all sides." {Pil- 
grimage, p. 838.) 

Eristow. A misprint for Bristow. 

Erminia. Commonplace 12. 

Armenia, the country between the upper Euphrates and Media. 

Erymanth. Arcades 100. 

A lofty range of mountains on the frontiers of Arcadia, Achaia, 
and Elis. 

Erythraean. See Red Sea. 

Escesdunc. See 1. Ashdown. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 117 

Eshtaol. Samson 181. (See also Zorah.) 

A town of Palestine in the territory of Dan. (Joshua 19. 41.) 

Eskesdun. See 1. Ashdown. 

Essex (East-Saxons). Eikonocl. (4) 3. 361; Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 

118; (4) 5. 160, 187; (5) 5. 191, 197, 207, 208 (twice), 209 

(twice), 210, 216, 218; (6) 5. 243, 249, 250, 260 (twice), 277, 

282. 

A county of eastern England, bordering on the Thames and 
the North Sea. Milton usually employs the word to indicate 
the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Essex, the boundaries of which 
extended somewhat beyond those of the county (Camden 1. 
cxxx), though all the places which he mentions as in Essex 
are included within the present limits of the county. 

Esthambruges. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 15. (See also Henault.) 

Estaimbourg is a town in Hainaut, near the River Scheldt. 
Ortelius on his map of Hainaut shows a forest near Estam- 
bruge, northeast of the junction of the Haine and the Scheldt. 
(P. 38.) See also Mercator, p. 393, map. 

Estotiland. P. L. 10. 686. 

A fabulous island near the northeastern part of North America. 
Hakluyt gives the following narrative of certain sailors who were 
shipwrecked in that region: "They discovered an Island called 
Estotiland, lying to the Westwards above 1000 Miles from Fris- 
land, upon the which one of the boats was cast away, and sixe 
men that were in it were taken of the inhabitants and brought 
into a faire and populous citie. . . . They dwelt five years in 
the Island, and learned the language, and one of them was in 
divers partes of the Island, and reporteth that it is a very rich 
countrey, abounding with all the commodities of the world, and 
that it is little lesse than Island, but farre more fruitfull, having 
in the middle thereof a very high mountaine, from the which 
there spring foure rivers that passe through the whole countrey. 
The inhabitants are very wittie people, and have all artes and 
faculties, as we have; and it is credible that in time past they 
have had trafficke with our men, for he said, that he saw Latin 
bookes in the kings Librarie, which they at this present do not 
understand. They have a peculiar language, and letters or 



118 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

caracters to themselves. They have mines of all maner of met- 
tals, but especial they abound with gold. They have their 
trade in Engroneland, from whence they bring furres, brimstone 
and pitch; and he saith that to the Southwards there is a great 
populous countrey very rich of gold. They sow corne, and 
make beere and ale. . . . They have mighty great woods, 
they make their buildings with wals, and there are many cities 
and castles. They build small barks and have sayling, but they 
have not the load stone, nor know the use of the compasse." 
(Hak. 3. 124.) Hakluyt adds: "I have heere annexed judge- 
ment of that famous Cosmographer Abraham Ortelius, or 
rather the yealding and submitting of his judgment thereunto, 
who . . . boroweth proofe and authoritie out of this relation, 
to shew that the Northeast parte of America called Estotiland, 
and in the original always affirmed to bee an Islande, was about 
the yeere 1390 discovered, . . . above 100 yeeres before ever 
Christopher Columbus set saile for those Westerne Regions, and 
that the Northern Seas were even then sayled by our European 
Pilots through the helpe of the loadstone." {Ih. 3. 127.) Mer- 
cator applies the name to the northeastern coast of Labrador. 
(P. 689, map.) Heylyn speaks of the "extream cold" of the 
country. (Cosmography 4. 103.) 

Etam. See Etham. 

Etham. Samson 253. 

Properly Etam, a rock of unknown situation in the territory 
ofjudah. (Judges 15. 8, 11.) 

Ethandune. See Edindon. 

Ethiop (^thiopa). Eleg. 5. 31; II Pens. 19; Ps. 87. 15; P. L. 

4. 282. (See also Equinoctial Line, Negus.) 

The ancients considered the Ethiopians to possess that part 
of Africa south of the desert and of Egypt. (Mela 1. 4.) Hence 
the "Ethiop Line" is the equator. 

Ethiopian Sea. P. L. 2. 641; P. L. 4. 161, 165. 

That part of the circumfluent ocean south of the known world 
was in antiquity called the Ethiopian Sea. (Mela 1. 4.) A 
survival of this conception is found on modern maps (e. g., 
Mercator, p. 49) which mark as Ethiopian the portion of the ocean 
between southern Africa and South America. The Ethiopian 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 119 

Sea of Dionysius Periegetes, according to the following passage, 
includes at least the Indian Ocean: "Where first the sun shines 
on men, they call it the eastern and the Indian swell of the sea, 
and close by they name the Erythraean, and toward the south, 
where is spread out a great hollow of land without a dwelling, 
consumed by fierce suns, the Ethiopian." (LI. 36-40). Pur- 
chas, in describing the east coast of Africa, speaks of it as the 
shore of the Ethiopian Sea. {Pilgrimes 1. 116.) His concep- 
tion is the one accepted by Milton, for a ship sailing from the 
Indies "through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape" would pass 
through the midst of the Indian Ocean. 

Etruria. See Tuscany. 

Euboic Sea. P. L. 2. 546. 

The water between Euboea and the mainland, at the foot of 
Mount CEta, Thessaly. 

Euphrates (Assyrian Flood). P. L. 1. 420; 12. 114; P. R. 3. 272, 
384, 436. (See also Assyria, Balsara, Tigris.) 
A great river of Asia, rising in the mountains of Armenia, 
and flowing southward until it unites with the Tigris to empty 
into the Persian Gulf. It forms the western boundary of Mesopo- 
tamia. Milton twice mentions the Euphrates as the northeastern 
limit of the realm of the Jews (P. L. 1. 419-421; P. R. 3. 384). 
Both passages suggest the verse: "Unto thy seed have I given 
this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river 
Euphrates." (Genesis 15. 18.) The adjective "old," which 
Milton applies to Euphrates, is probably equivalent to the 
"great" of this and other verses. Spenser calls the Euphrates 
"immortal." (P. Q. 4. 11. 21.) Compare "that ancient river, 
the river Kishon." (Judges 5. 21.) The Euphrates is one of 
the four rivers of Eden. (Genesis 2. 14; P. L. 4. 231-5.) The 
two rivers of P. R. 3. 255 are the Tigris and Euphrates. In 
describing them as flowing from the side of one mountain Milton 
suggests the tradition recorded by Dante in the words: " In 
front of them meseemed I saw Euphrates and Tigris issue from 
one fount, and, like friends, separate slowly." {Purgatory Z2>. 
112-114.) Strabo describes them as having their origin in the 
same mountain, by which he means, not a single peak, but the 
range of Taurus, for the sources of the streams are, he says, 
9 



120 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

2500 stades distant from one another. (11.12.3.) Healso tells 
of the winding course of the Euphrates, as do Solinus, and Mela; 
the latter says that if it were not for the mountains in its way it 
would flow into the Mediterranean. (3. 8.) The picture given 
by Milton of Mesopotamia, the "Fair Champaign with less rivers 
interveind" {P. R. 3. 257), is a composite of many descriptions, 
the chief of which among the ancients, in addition to the 
geographers already named, are the Bible, Herodotus (1. 178- 
200, etc.), Xenophon {Anabasis 1 and 2), Diodorus (2 and 17), 
and Pliny (6. 26, 27). The "less rivers interveind" are the 
canals of which Pliny writes, and the " barren desert fountainless 
and dry" is described in the Anabasis 1.5. One may also com- 
pare with P. R. 3. 259-60, and with the descriptions of the rivers, 
the following from Dionysius Periegetes: "Eastward from the 
craggy mountains the stream of the huge Euphrates River 
appears, which indeed from the Armenian mountain first goes 
far southward, but again having bent its spirals and having 
passed eastward through the midst of Babylon, disgorges into 
the swelling of the Persian Gulf its swift foam, passing by 
Teredon at its very mouth. Beyond this to the east, the 
Tigris, fair-flowing, swiftest of all rivers, hurries along in 
its course its equal stream, distant as great a space as in 
journeying seven days a strong and agile traveler would accom- 
plish. ... It goes down in a sharper current than Euphrates, 
and no other river seems swifter than it. All the land between 
Tigris and Euphrates the inhabitants call Mesopotamia. Surely 
a herdsman of cattle would not blame that country, nor he 
who, celebrating with the syrinx goat-footed Pan, follows sheep 
which dwell in the open, nor would a gardener contemn the 
material of every kind which it offers for crops; of such sort is 
the corn-land of it, in fostering grass, and fiowry pastures, and 
of men a race most beautiful and like the gods." (LI. 976-1000.) 
With P. R. 3. 258 cf. Eldred's narrative, s. v. Balsara. 

Euripus. 2 Defens. 6. 297; Logic (1. 20) 7. 66. 

The channel between Euboea and the mainland, famous for 
its tides and currents. Milton's use of the word, like that of 
Cicero in the passage {Pro Miirena 17) which he quotes, is 
figurative. For a literal reference, see Euripides, Iphigenia in 
Tauris 6. 



k 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 121 

Europe. Fairfax 1; Cyriack 12; Quint. Nov. 171; P. L. 10. 
310; 11. 405; Tetr^ch. (Canon) 4. 273; Areopag. 4. 437; 
Kings & Mag. 4. 458, 475; Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 74; (3)5.111,127; 
Hirelings 5. 371; Notes: Grif. 5. 399; Easy Way 5. 426; 2 
Defens. 6. 251; Lit. Oliv. (32) 7. 276, 277; (44) 7. 292; Lit. 
Rich. (10) 7. 341; Contra Hisp. 7. 346, 349, 351 (twice), 354, 
359; 8 Prolus. 7. 460; Decl. Poland 8. 463; Moscovia (Pref.) 
8.470; Commonplace 53 ; Sixteen Let. 15. 

Eurotas. Infant 25. 

A river of Laconia, flowing by Sparta. 
Exe. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 244. 

A river in Somerset and Devon, flowing into the English 
Channel. 

Exeten Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 11; (5) 5. 204 (thrice), 208 (twice), 

209 (thrice), 226; (6) 5. 244 (twice), 246. 

A city of Devonshire near the mouth of the River Exe, often 
mentioned in the Chronicle. 

Eynesham. See Ignesham. 

Faesulanus. See Fesole. 
Faleme. P. R. 4. 117. 

A district in northern Campania, celebrated for its wines. 
(Horace, Odes 1. 20. 10; 2. 3. 8, etc.) 

Farendon. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 220. 
Faringdon, Berkshire. 

Faringdon. See Farendon. 

Famham. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 208. 
A town in Surrey on the River Wye. 

Fedridan. Misprint for Pedridan. 
Fehmarn. See Femarn. 
Femarn. Safe-cond. 

Fehmarn, an island in the Baltic off the coast of Schleswig- 
Holstein. 

Fenns. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 214. 

The Fens, the district in the east of England west and south 
of the Wash. 



122 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Ferrajo, Porto. See Ferrarii Portus. 

Ferrara. 2 Defens. 6. 289. 

A city of Italy on the Po di Volano. Milton visited the city 
in the course of his travels in Italy, but tells nothing about it. 
The city, then past its time of greatest prosperity, was under the 
rule of the popes. 

Ferrarii Portus. Lit. Oliv. (74) 7. 325. 

Porto Ferrajo, the chief port of the Isle of Elba. 

Fesole (Fsesulani Colles). P. L. 1. 289; Epist. Earn. (8) 7. 380. 

(See also Florence, Valdarno.) 

Eiesole is a small city of Italy about three miles northeast of 
Florence. The hill which formed its citadel is about a thousand 
feet above the valley of the Arno. Milton seems to have become 
familiar with the place during his sojourn in Florence. I am 
unable to discover any reason why he associates it with the 
astronomical activity of Galileo. 

Fethanleage. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 134. 

Milton indicates by a note that his account of a battle at this 
place comes from Henry of Huntington 2. 25. Its site, in western 
England, is unidentified. 

Fez. P. L. 11. 403. (See also Almansor.) 

A part of northern Africa, now included in Morocco, south of 
the Straits of Gibraltar. Leo Africanus bounds it as follows: 
"The kingdome of Fez beginneth westward at the famous river 
Ommirabih and extendeth eastward to the river Muluia; north- 
ward it is enclosed partly with the Ocean and partly with the 
Mediterran sea." (P. 393.) His "exact description of the city 
of Fez" is as follows: "A World it is to see, how large, how popu- 
lous, how well-fortified and walled this citie is. , . . Of Mahume- 
tan temples and oratories there are almost seven hundred in this 
towne, fiftie whereof are most stately and sumptuously built, 
having their conducts made of marble and other excellent stones 
unknowen to the Italians, and the chapiters of their pillars be 
artificially adorned with painting and carving. . . . The chiefe 
Mahumetan temple in this towne is called Caruven, being of so 
incredible a bignes, that the circuit thereof and of the buildings 
longing unto it, is a good mile and a halfe about." (P. 419 ff.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 123 

In his Commonplace Book 57 Milton gives a reference to the 
following passage in Leo: "In Fez there are divers most excellent 
poets, which make verses in their owne mother toong. Most of 
their poems and songs intreat of love. Every yeere they pen 
certaine verses in the commendation of Mahumet, especially 
upon his birthday, for then betimes in the morning they resort 
unto the palace of the chief judge or governor, ascending his 
tribunall-seat, and from thence reading their verses to a great 
audience of people; and hee whose verses are most elegant and 
pithie is that yeere proclaimed prince of the poets. But when 
as the kings of the Marin-familie prospered, they used to invite 
all the learned men of the citie unto their palace, and honorably 
entertaining them, they commanded each man in their hearing 
to recite their verses to the commendation of Mahumet, and he 
that was in all mens opinions esteemed the best poet was rewarded 
by the king with an hundred duckats, with an excellent horse, 
with a woman-slave, and with the kings own robes wherewith 
he was then apparelled; all the rest had fiftie duckats apeece 
given them, so that none departed without the kings liberalitie." 
(P. 455.) 

Fiesole. See Fesole. 

Fifa. 2 Defens. 6. 324. 

Fife (Latin, Fifa) is a maritime county of Scotland, between 
the firths of Forth and Tay. 

Fife. See Fifa. 

Finmark. Moscovia (5) 8. 504. 

The most northern land of Europe, now a part of Norway, but 
in the time of Milton ruled by the king of Denmark. 

Fisburg. P^ist. Brit. (6) 5. 252. 

A name applied in Simeon of Durham, Sect. 126, to the Five 
Danish Boroughs (Chronicle 1013), Lincoln, Nottingham, Stam- 
ford, Derby, and Leicester. (See Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 228.) 

Flanders (Flandria). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 206, 227, 232; (6) 5. 
269, 271, 276, 277, 281, 288, 293; Hirelings 5. 366; Lit. 
Senat. (9) 7. 194; (41) 7. 232; Lit. Oliv. (43) 7. 290; (72) 
7. 323; Commonplace 191. 



124 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

A part of modern Belgium, described as follows by Ortelius: 
"True Flanders, though sometimes given more extended boun- 
daries, is to-day bounded by Brabant, Hainaut, Artois, and the 
Ocean." (P. 40.) 

Flintshire. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 106. 
A county of north Wales. 

Flissinga. Lit. Oliv. (23) 7. 265, 266 (twice). 
Flushing, a seaport of Walcheren, Netherlands. 

Florence (Florentia, Thusca Urbs). Damon. 13; Areopag. 4. 
405 (thrice); 2 Defens. 6. 288 (twice), 289; Lit. Senat. (17) 
7. 201; (20) 7. 205; (34) 7. 222; (37) 7. 225; Lit. Oliv. (64) 
7. 313; Epist. Fam. (9) 7. 383; (10) 7. 385. (See also Arao, 
Fesole, Tuscan, Valdarno, Vallombrosa.) 

A city of Tuscany on the Arno, in the time of Milton under 
the rule of Duke Ferdinand de' Medici. Milton spent two 
months in Florence in the year 1638, and two more in the follow- 
ing year. The appearance of the place to an English traveler 
can be learned from Evelyn's Diary (Oct. 22 ff., 1644). 

Florida. Contra Hisp. 7. 356, 358. 

Now the southeast peninsula of the United States of America. 
In the time of Milton it included a great extent of country to 
the north, where it adjoined Virginia, and to the west. 

Flushing. See Flissinga. 

Foederatae Provincise. See United Provinces. 

Fons Belaqueus. See Fountain Bleau. 

Fontainebleau. See Fountain Bleau. 

Fontarabbia. P. L. 1. 587. 

Fuenterrabia, a town of northern Spain, on the French frontier, 
between the mountains and the Bay of Biscay. 

Forth. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 196. 

A river of Scotland, flowing into the Firth of Forth, 

Forth, Firth of. See Bodotria. 

Fountain Bleau (Fons Belaqueus). Church-gov. (2. 1) 3. 152; 
Rami Vita 7. 183. 
Fontainebleau, a town thirty-seven miles southeast of Paris. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 125 

Foy. Lit. Senat. (41) 7. 231; (42) 7. 232, 233. 
A port on the south coast of Cornwall. 

France (Celtica, Celtic Fields, Francia, Gallia, Gaul). Comus 
60; Sonnet 18.8; Eleg. 6. 12; Ad Patrem 82; P. L. 1. 521; 
P. R. 4. 77; Reformation (1) 3. 16; (2) 3. 39, 41, 53, 66; 
Eikonocl. (17) 3. 464; Divorce (Pref.) 4. 11; Bucer: Divorce 
(Test.) 4. 289; Ormond 4. 559, 564, 565; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 2, 3, 
4 (twice), 12, 14, 18, 19, 21 (thrice), 22; (2) 5. 30 (twice), 31, 
35, 37, 42, 43, 46 (twice), 47, 48, 49, 59, 66, 76 (twice), 81 
(twice), 82 (twice), 85, 89, 91 (4 times), 92; (3) 5. 101, 105, 
110, 115; (4) 5. 140, 146 (twice), 155, 156, 170, 181, 183; (5) 
5. 195, 206, 207, 211 (twice), 217, 220, 227 (twice); (6) 5. 297; 
Hirelings 5. 385; Rupt. Com. 5. 402; 1 Defens. (4) 6. 87, 123; 
(7) 6. 126 (thrice); (8) 6. 136, 141 (twice); (12) 6. 179; 2 
Defens. 6. 284, 287, 289, 310, 313, 316; Pro Se Defens. 6. 369, 
381, 383, 401; Respons. 6. 407 (thrice), 408, 417; Logic 
(1. 29) 7. 91; Lit. Oliv. (18) 7. 260; (25) 7. 268; (43) 7. 290 
(thrice); (50) 7. 300, 301; (69) 7. 321; (70) 7. 321; (71) 
7. 322; (80) 7. 332; Lit. Rich. (6) 7. 337; (9) 7. 340; Epist. 
Fam. (12) 7. 388; Decl. Poland 8. 468; Moscovia (1) 8. 481; 
2 Eng. Let., Masson 4. 479; Commonplace 53, 61 (4 times), 
109 (thrice), 110 (thrice), 112, 177, 182, 183, 186 (6 times), 244; 
Sixteen Let. 7, 8. 

In the time of Milton France was ruled by Louis XHI and 
Louis XIV, and cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin were powerful. 
In 1638 Milton traveled through France, by way of Paris and 
Marseilles, on his way to Italy. In the following year, on his way 
home, he again passed through France, after a visit to Geneva. 

Franciscopolis. See Newhaven. 
Francofurtum. Rami Vita 7. 184. 

Frankfort, a city of Germany on the River Main. 
Franekera. Pro Se Defens. 6. 383. 

Franeker, a town in Friesland, the seat of a university from 
1585 to 1811. 

Frankfort. See Francofurtum. 
Freesland (Frisia). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 127; (4) 5. 168. 

The district northeast of the Zuyder Zee, bordering on the 
North Sea. Hither or Western Frisia is the Frisia Major of 
Tacitus. (Mercator, p. 417.) 



126 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Frisia. See Freesland. 

Frome. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 256. 
A river of Dorsetshire. 

Fuenterrabia. See Fontarabbia. 

Fulford. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 295. 

A town in Yorkshire "on the northern shore of the River 
Ouse, near York." (Simeon of Durham, Sect. 149.) 

Fulham. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 206. 

A place in Middlesex, on the River Thames. (Chronicle 879.) 

Gades (Cales, Gadier). P. R. 4. 77; Samson 716; Eikonocl. (9) 
3. 400. (See also Hercules' Pillars, Tarsus, Tartessus.) 
Cadiz is a very ancient city built on an island on the southern 
coast of Spain, west of Gibraltar. Gades is the Latin, and Gadier 
the Greek form of the name. " Cales" is common in English 
books of the time of Milton. Dionysius Periegetes writes of it: 
"Verily in the midst of the western columns, on the utmost border 
Gadire appears to men, on a sea-girt isle, at the limits of Ocean. 
There live the race of the Phoenicians, venerating Hercules son 
of great Zeus. The island, by earlier men named Cotinusa, the 
inhabitants call Gadire." (LI. 450-456.) Similarly, Cadiz ap- 
pears as the most western city of the world in P. E, 4. 77. Its 
name was sometimes applied to the Iberian Peninsula, of which 
it was the chief city, for in the time of Augustus it had more 
inhabitants than any other place in the Empire except Rome, 
and was of great commercial importance. (Strabo 3. 5. 3-10.) 
Though Cadiz does not appear in Scripture, it is fittingly intro- 
duced in Samson 716 because of its ancient commercial impor- 
tance, its connection with the Phoenician merchants so often men- 
tioned in the Bible, and its association by scholars with Tarshish, 
which was sometimes identified with it. (Bochart, p. 193.) 

Gadier. See Gades. 

Gaditanum Mare. Lit. Senat. (33) 7. 221. 
The Gulf of Cadiz. 

Gafulford. See Camelford. 

Gainsburrow. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 252. 

A town in Lincolnshire on the River Trent. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 127 

Galford. See Camelford. 

Galicia. See Gallaecia. 

Galilean Lake. See Genezaret. 

Galilee. P. R. 1. 135; 3. 233; Reformation (2) 3. 36. 

The northern part of Palestine, lying between Phoenicia and 
the Jordan Valley, famous as the home of Jesus. 

Gallaecia. Lit. Senat. (14) 7. 199. 

A province occupying the northwest corner of Spain. 

Gallia. See France. 

Gallilean. See Galilee. 

Ganges (Gangetis). Eleg. 3. 49; P. L. 3. 436; 9. 82. 

A great river of India, flowing into the Bay of Bengal. In the 
Elegy the Ganges represents the extreme east. Cf. Dante, 
Paradiso 11. 51, etc. 

Garamanti. Grammar (2) 6. 487. 

In the widest application of the word, the inhabitants of the 
eastern Sahara. 

Gardens- See Adonis (Garden of), Hesperian, Solomon. 

Gascoine. Commonplace 221. 

Gascony, a province of south \vestern France. 

Gascony. See Gascoine. 

Gasulford. See Camelford. 

Gate-House. Apology (1) 3. 286. 

A prison in Westminster, of which Stow speaks thus: "The 
Gate-house is so called of two Gates, the one out of the Colledge 
court toward the North, on the East side whereof was the Bishop 
of Londons prison for Clarices convict, and the other Gate, 
adionyning to the first but towards the west, is a Gaile or prison 
for offenders thither committed." (2. 122.) 

Gath. P. L. 1. 465; Samson 266, 981, 1068, 1078, 1127, 1129; 

Animadv. (16. 148) 3. 240, 241. 

One of the five cities of the Philistines. Josephus puts it 
"not far oft" the borders of the country of the Hebrews" {Antiqui- 
ties 7. 12. 2), but its site has not been certainly identified. Mil- 



128 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

ton's expression "the towers of Gath" is a figure for Philistia, 
like that in the verse: "Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the 
streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, 
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph." (2 Samuel 
1. 20.) Milton makes Gath the home of the giant Harapha, 
whose name is derived from the word translated "giant" in the 
verse: "These four were born to the giant in Gath." (2 Samuel 
21. 22.) The word "pile," in the statement that the look of 
Hat-apha is "haughty as is his pile high-built and proud " {Samson 
1069), is often taken to refer to the stature of the giant. Possibly 
it means that Milton thought the dwelling of the giant at Gath 
was in an elevated position. Adrichomius says the city was on a 
hill, and his maps show it in such a place. (Pp. 14, 22.) One of 
the places now thought to be the site of Gath, Tell es-Safiyeh in 
the Valley of Elah, is a cliff about two hundred feet high, on the 
summit of which are the ruins of a massive wall. (Encyclopcsdia 
Biblica.) 

Gaul. See France. 

Gaza (Azza). P. L. 1. 466; Samson, Arg.," 41, 147, 435, 981, 

1558, 1729, 1752. 

The southernmost of the five cities of the Philistines, called 
Azzah in Deuteronomy 2. 23, still a place of some importance, 
a few miles from the Mediterranean Sea. Since Gaza is the 
place of the death of Samson, Milton has there laid the scene of 
Samson Agonistes. When he speaks of "Gaza's frontier bounds" 
he perhaps alludes to 2 Kings 18. 8, where Gaza is the limit of 
Philistia, or to 1 Kings 4. 24, where it is the limit of the kingdom 
of Solomon. Cf. also Judges 6. 4; Deuteronomy 2. 23; Joshua 
10. 41; 15. 47. Sandys, who in 1610 visited Gaza on his way 
from Egypt to Jerusalem, describes it as follows: "But now 
return we unto Gaza, one of the five Cities, and that the principal 
that belonged to the Palestines, called Philistins in the Scrip- 
tures, a warlike and powerful people, of whom afterwards the 
whole land of Promise took the name of Palestine. Gaza or 
Aza signifieth strong. First, famous for the acts of Samson, 
who lived in the time of the Trojan Wars, an Age that produced 
Worthies, whose force and fortunes are said to have given to the 
Poets their inventions of Hercules, who lived not long before 
him; and afterwards famous for the two wounds there received 



i 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 129 

by Alexander the Great, then counted the principal city of Syria. 
It stands upon a Hill, environed with Vallies, and those again 
well-nigh closed with Hills, most of them planted with all sorts 
of delicate fruits. The buildings mean, both for form and 
matter. . . . Yet there are some reliques left, and some impres- 
sions that testifie a better condition. For divers simple Roofs 
are supported with goodly Pillars of Parian Marble; some plain, 
some curiously carved. A number broken in pieces do serve for 
Threshods, Jaums of doors, and sides of Windows almost unto 
every beggarly Cottage. On the North-East Corner and sum- 
mlty of the Hill are the mines of huge Arches sunk low in the 
Earth, and other foundations of a stately Building. . . . The 
Jews do fable this place to have been the Theatre of Sampson 
pulled down on the heads of the Philistines. Perhaps some 
Palace there built by Ptolomy or Pompey, who re-edified the 
City, or Christian Temple erected by Constantine, or else that 
Castle founded by Baldwin the third in the year 1148. . . . 
Out of sight and yet within hearing Is the Sea, seven furlongs off, 
where they have a decayed and unsafe Port, of small avail at 
this day to the Inhabitants. In the Valley on the East-side of 
the City are many straggling Buildings, beyond which there is 
a Hill more eminent than the rest, on the North-side of the way 
that leadeth to Babylon, said to be that, and no question the 
same described in Scriptures, to which Samson carried the 
Gates of the City, upon whose top there standeth a Mosque, 
environed with the Graves and Sepulchres of Mahometans." 
(Pp. 116-17.) Like Sandys, Milton speaks of the building in 
which Samson met his end as "a spacious theatre." He does 
not accept Sandys' identification of the hill to which Samson 
carried the gates of Gaza, for he says that the hill was "by 
Hebron" many miles distant, and hence "no journey of a Sabbath 
day" (Samson 148-9), while the hill mentioned by Sandys is 
one mile, little more than a Sabbath-day's journey, from Gaza. 
(Encyclopcsdia Bihlica.) 

Gehenna. See Hinnom. 

Geloni. Nat. Non 54. 

A Scythian tribe on the Boristhenes, the modern Don. 

Geneva. Episcopacy 3. 82; Animadv. (13. 127) 3. 239; Tetrach. 
(Canon) 4. 280; Areopag. 4. 443; Kings & Mag. 4. 495 



130 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

(twice); 2 Defens. 6. 256, 257, 289 (twice), 296, 311; Pro Se 

Defens. 6. 353, 374, 376, 377, 391 (twice), 397, 398; Respons. 

6. 408, 421, 423, 424, 425 (twice) ; Rami Vita 7. 184; Lit. Oliv. 

(8) 7. 245; (19) 7. 260. 

A city of Switzerland at the southwest corner of Lake Geneva. 
In the time of Milton, as for some hundred years before, Geneva 
was an independent city, famous for its support of the doctrines 
of the reformed Church. When Milton returned from Italy, 
he traveled by way of Geneva, where he spent some time con- 
versing daily with the learned professor of theology John Diodati, 
uncle of his friend Charles Diodati. (2 Defens. 6. 289.) The date 
of the visit is fixed by the following entry in an autograph album : 

"if Vertue feeble were 
Heaven itselfe would stoope to her. 
Caelum, non animum, muto dum trans mare curro. 
Junii 10, 1639. Joannes Miltonius, Anglus." 

(Masson, Life of Milton 1. 833.) 

Milton refers to the city as a famous seat of learning {Animadv. 
(13. 127) 3. 239), and as a refuge for Englishmen oppressed be- 
cause of their religious belief {Kings & Mag. 4. 495). 

Geneva, Lake. See Lemannus. 

Genezaret (Galilean Lake). Lycidas 109, 173; P. R. 2. 23. 

The Sea of Galilee, or Lake of Gennesaret, a body of water 
formed by the expansion of the upper course of the River Jordan. 

Gennesaret. See Genezaret. 

Genoa. See Genua. 

Genounia. See Wales. 

Genua. 2 Defens. 6. 288; Sixteen Let. 10. 

Genoa, a seaport of northwestern Italy. On his Italian journey 
Milton passed through Genoa, then an independent city of con- 
siderable importance. 

Gergessa. Eleg. 4. 103. 

An unidentified town on the Sea of Galilee. Fuller puts it on 
the southeastern shore. (P. 75, map.) See Matthew 8. 28. 

Germany (Almany, Germania, Teutonici Agri). Ad Sal. 24; 
Eleg. 4. 2, 13; P. R. 4. 78; Eikonocl. (11) 3. 428 (twice); 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 131 

(20) 3. 478; Divorce (Pref.) 4. 11 ; Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 278, 
280; Bucer: Divorce (Pari.) 4. 295, 297, 300; Kings & Mag. 
4. 490, 495; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 15; (3) 5. Ill, 113; (4) 5. 168; 
Hirelings 5. 372; Easy Way 5. 452; 2 Defens. 6. 306, 310; 
Rami Vita 7. 183 (twice), 184; Lit. Oliv. (10) 7. 249; (45) 
7. 295; Epist. Fam. (7) 7. 378; Moscovia (4) 8.494,497; 
Commonplace 114; Safe-cond. (thrice); Sixteen Let. 3. 

Gessoriacum. See Boloigne. 

Giant's Leap. See Langoemagog. 

Gibeah. P. L. 1. 504; Animadv. (13. 105) 3. 227. 

A city of Palestine in the territory of Benjamin. See Judges 
19. 

Gibeon. P. L. 12. 265; MS. 2. 110. 

An ancient city of Palestine in the territory of Benjamin. 
Milton's reference is to the verse: "Then spake Joshua to the 
Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before 
the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, 
stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of 
Ajalon." (Joshua 10. 12.) 

Gibraltar. P. L. 1. 355. (See also Hercules' Pillars.) 

A promontory and rock on the southern coast of Spain at the 
entrance to the Mediterranean. 

Gilboa. MS. 2. 110. 

A mountain on the southern side of the Valley of Jezreel, 
Palestine. See 1 Samuel 28-30. 

Gilgal. 1 Defens. (2) 6. 38. 

A city of Palestine, near Jericho, where Saul was crowned king. 
(1 Samuel 11. 15.) 

Gillingham. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 258. 

A place in Dorsetshire, said by Camden to be a forest near the 
River Stour. (1.45.) 

Glacialis Oceanus. See Cronian Sea. 

Glamorgan. Eikonocl. (12) 3. 439; Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 116, 
135. 
A county of southern Wales, bordering on the Bristol Channel. 



132 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Glastbrig. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 286. 

An unidentified place, perhaps Glasbury on the borders of 
Brecknockshire and Radnorshire. {Two Chr. 2. 354.) 

Glaston. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 125; (5) 5. 229, 233; (6) 5. 241, 261. 
At Glastonbury, in the Isle of Avalon, Somersetshire, is a 
famous abbey where many of the Saxon kings were buried. 
(Camden 1. 59.) 

Glendale. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 223. (See also Brunanburg.) 

The valley of the River Glen, in Northumberland, which 
Camden gives as the place of the battle of Brunanburh. (3. 239.) 

Gloster. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 75; (3) 5. 134; (5) 5. 226; (6) 5. 277, 
279, 284, 286, 287; Commonplace 178. 
Gloucester, the chief town of Gloucestershire. 

Glostershire. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 134; (5) 5. 215, 229; (6) 5. 260. 
Gloucestershire, a county of southwestern England. 

Glota. See Dunbritton. 

Gloucester. See Gloster. 

Gluckstadium. Lit. Senat. (30) 7. 218. 
A town of Holstein, on the River Elbe. 

Gnavewic. See Swanswich. 

Gnesna (misprinted "Guesna"). Decl. Poland 8. 468. 
Gnesen, or Gniezno, a town of Posen, Prussia. 

Gogmagog. See Balesham. 

Golgotha. P. L. 3. 477. 

The place, also called Calvary, near Jerusalem, where Christ 
was crucified. Though the exact spot is not surely known, 
tradition says that the cross stood on a rock later enclosed by 
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which has been for centuries 
a place of pilgrimage. Sandys, who in 1611 visited the spot, 
tells of the church and the pilgrims he saw there. (Pp. 125 ff.) 

Goshen. P. L. 1. 309. 

A part of Egypt near the eastern frontier, where the children 
of Israel lived during their sojourn in Egypt. (Genesis 47. 6.) 

Graecia. See Greece. 



h 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 133 

Grampius. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 69. 

Perhaps the Grampian Hills, Scotland. Milton's words "the 
Mountaine Grampius" are apparently a translation from Tacitus 
(Agricola 29). The exact place to which Tacitus refers is un- 
known. 

Grantbrig. See 1. Cambridge. 

Gratianopolis. Lit. Rich. (8) 7. 339 (twice). 

Grenoble, a city of southeastern France, formerly the capital 
of the province of Dauphiny. 

Grave. Bucer: Divorce (Test.) 4. 291. 

A fortified town of North Brabant on the Meuse. 

Great Berkhamstead. See Barcham. 

Great River. See Tigris. 

Greece (Doric Land, Grjecia). Comus 439; P. L. 1. 519, 739; 4. 
212; 9. 19; 10. 307; P. R. 3. 118; 4. 240, 270, 338, 360; Apology 
(3) 3. 287; Eikonocl. (28) 3. 522 (twice); Education 4. 390; 
Areopag. 4. 398, 400, 401; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 7, 8, 9; (2) 5. 28; 
Easy Way 5. 450; 1 Defens. (5) 6. 106, 108; 2 Defens. 6. 288, 
310; Epist. Fam. (12) 7. 389. (See also Javan.) 

Green Cape. P. L. 8. 631. (See also Verdant Isles.) 

Cape Verde, on the western coast of Africa. An early voyager, 
in describing Africa, says: "On the westside of these regions 
toward the Ocean, is the cape or point called Cabo verde, or 
Caput viride, that is, the greene cape, to the which the Portugals 
first direct their course when they sail to America, or the land of 
Brasilie." (Hak. 2. 2. 20.) 

Greenwich (Grenovicus) . Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 253 (twice), 254; 

Lit. Senat. (9) 7. 194; Moscovia (5) 8. 503. 

A town of Kent, on the River Thames below London. In 
Moscovia (5) 8. 503 Milton, quoting from Hak. 1, 245, refers to 
the palace at Greenwich, of which Camden writes: "The place 
is now famous for the royal palace built by Humphrey duke of 
Gloucester, . . . enlarged in a magnificent manner by Henry VII 
who . . . finished the tower that duke Humphrey began on a 
high hill, which commands an extensive and beautiful prospect 
over the meandering river and the verdant meads." (1. 211.) 



134 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Grenoble. See Gratianopolis. 

Grenovicus. See Greenwich. 

Groningham. Pro Se Defens. 6. 383. 

Groningen, a seaport of the Netherlands, the seat of a univer- 
sity. 

Guarded Mount. Lycidas 161. (See also Bayona.) 

St. Michael's Mount, a rock in Mount's Bay, on the coast of 
Cornwall. Camden writes: "In the very corner is Michael's 
Mount (which gives name to the bay). ... It is a craggy rock 
surrounded by the water at high tides; but when the tide is 
out joined to the main land. . . . On the summit, within the 
castle was a chapel dedicated to Michael the archangel, where 
William, Earl of Cornwall and More ton, . . . founded a cell 
for a monk or two, who gave out that Michael had appeared on 
the mount." (1. 4.) Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall, gives 
a description of the Mount. See also the references given by 
Verity in his note on the passage. The most famous literary 
allusion, after Milton's, is that of Spenser: 

St. Michel's Mount who does not know, 
\ That wardes the westerne coste? 

{Shepherds' Calendar, July 41-2.) 

Guesna. See Gnesna. 

Guiana. P. L. 11. 410. (See also EI Dorado.) 

A region in the northern part of South America, of greater 
extent than the country now called Guiana. Sir Walter Raleigh, 
who made two expeditions to Guiana, writes as follows: "What- 
soever prince shall possesse it, that Prince shall be Lord of more 
golde, and of a more beautifull Empire, and of more Cities and 
people, then either the King of Spaine, or the great Turke. But 
because there may arise many doubts, and how this Empire of 
Guiana is become so populous, and adorned with so many great 
Cities, townes, temples, and treasures, I thought good to make 
it knowen, that the Emperour now reigning is descended from 
those magnificent princes of Peru, of whose large territories, of 
whose policies, conquests, edifices, and riches Pedro de Cieza, 
Francisco Lopez, and others have written large discourses, for 
when Francisco Pizarro, Diego Almagro and others conquered 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 135 

the said Empire of Peru, and had put to death Atabalipa sonne 
to Guaynacapa, . . • one of the yonger sonnes of Guaynacapa 
fled out of Peru, and tooke with him many thousands of those 
souldiers of the Empire called Orejones, and with those and 
many others which followed him, hee vanquished all that tract 
and valley of America which is situated betweene the great river 
of Amazones, and Baraquan, otherwise called Orenoque and 
Marannon. The Empire of Guiana is directly East from Peru 
towards the Sea, and lieth under the Equinoctial line, and it 
hath more abundance of golde then any part of Peru, and as many 
or moe great Cities then ever Peru had when it flourished most." 
(Hak. 3. 634.) Milton's words, "yet unspoiled Guiana" suggest 
the following passage in the narrative of Raleigh: "To conclude, 
Guiana is a countrey that hath yet her maydenhead, never 
sackt, turned, nor wrought; the face of the earth hath not bene 
torne, nor the vertue and salt of the soyle spent by manurance; 
the graves have not bene opened for golde, the mines not broken 
with sledges, nor their Images puld downe out of their temples. 
It hath never been entered by any armie of strength, and never 
conquered or possessed by any christian Prince." (Hak. 3. 661.) 
Compare the following from Spenser, probably also influenced 
by Raleigh: 

Rich Oranochy, though but knowen late; 

And that huge River, which doth beare his name 

Of warlike Amazons, which doe possesse the same. 

Joy on those warlike women, which so long 

Can from all men so rich a kingdome hold! 

And shame on j'ou, O men! which boast your strong 

And valiant hearts, in thou.ghts lesse hard and bold, 

Yet quaile in conquest of that land of gold. 

But this to you, O Britons! most pertaines, 

To whom the right hereof it selfe hath sold. 

The which, for sparing litle cost or paines, 

Loose so immortall glory, and so endlesse gaines. 

{F. (2.4. 11. 21, 22.) 
Guid Crue. See Maes German. 

Guildford. See Guilford. 

Guild Hall. Eikonocl. (3) 3. 357. 

The building in London where is transacted the business 
relating to the government of the city. Stow, in his account of 
10 



136 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

"Cheape Warde," describes the Guild Hall of the period of 
Milton. (1. 271.) 

Guilford. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 269. 
Guildford, a town in Surrey. 

Guinea Nigritarum. Lit. Oliv. (30) 7. 273. 

Guinea, the name given to a large part of the west coast of 
Africa. 

Guinethia. See Wales. 

Gulf. See Persian Bay. 

Guorthigirniaun. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 118, 119. (See also Tiebi.) 
Described by Camden as "a vast desart with dreary irregular 
paths and frightful mountains" (2. 465), in Radnorshire, Wales. 
The account by Milton, as he indicates in a note, is from Nennius, 
Sect. 47. 

Habor. P. R. 3. 376. 

A river of Gozan, tributary to the Euphrates. In the Author- 
ized Version, as in Milton, it is represented not as a river, but as 
a country; for example: "The king of Assyria took Samaria, 
and carried away Israel into Assyria, and placed them in Halah 
and in Habor by the river of Gozan." (2 Kings 17. 6.) 

Haddington. Commonplace 19. 

A fortified town in Lothian, Scotland. (Camden 3. 303.) 

Haemonius. See Thessalian. 

Haemus. Nat. Non 29. 

A ridge of mountains in Thrace. 

Hafnia. Lit. Senat. (35) 7. 223; Lit. Oliv. (21) 7. 263; (44) 
7. 291. 
Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. 

Hague (Haga Comitis). Eikonocl. (27) 3. 512; Kings & Mag. 4. 

476; Pro Se Defens. 6. 340, 341, 344, 345 (twice), 377, 394, 401 ; 

Respons. 6. 413 (twice), 421; Epist. Fam. (27) 7. 406. 

Haga Comitis (the Garden of the Count) is the Latin name of 
The Hague, a city about three miles from the North Sea, now the 
capital of the Netherlands. In the time of Milton it was the 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 137 

meeting-place of the States General of the United Provinces, 
and the centre of European diplomacy. 

Hagustald. See Hexham. 

Hainaut. See Renault. 

Haine. See Hania. 

Halberstad. Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 276. 

A city in the province of Saxony, central Prussia, mentioned by 
Milton in connection with the philosopher and physician Henning 
Arnisaeus (1580-1636). 

Hamath. P. L. 12. 139. 

A city of Syria on the River Orontes. It is frequently men- 
tioned in the Bible as the northern boundary of the land of 
Canaan, as in the passage: "Solomon held a feast, and all 
Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of 
Hamath unto the river of Egypt." (1 Kings 8. 65.) Fuller 
(p. 429, map) and Bochart (p. 347) wrongly identify it with 
Antioch. 

Hamble. See Kerdic Shoar. 

Hamburga (Hamburgum). Eleg. 4. Title, 14; Lit. Senat. (26) 
7. 211; (35) 7. 223. 
Hamburg, a port of Germany, on the River Elbe. 

Hampshire (Hantshire, Southampton). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 117, 
121, 125; (4) 5. 164, 175; (5) 5. 192, 205, 210; (6) 5. 243, 244, 
246, 247, 251, 258. (See also Southampton.) 
A county of England, bordering on the English Channel. 

Hania. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 15 (twice). See also Henault. 

The Haine is a tributary of the Scheldt, flowing through 
Hainaut, which takes its name from the river. 

Hanseaticae Civitates. Lit. Senat. (26) 7. 211. 

The Hanseatic League was a commercial federation of North 
German cities, Liibeck, Cologne, Brunswick, Dantzic, and many 
others. 

Hantshire. See Hampshire. 



138 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Haran. P. L. 12. 131. 

A city of northwestern Mesopotamia, on the Belikh, a tributary 
of the Euphrates. See Genesis 11. 31-32. 

Harefield. Arcades, sub-title. 

Harefield House at Harefield in Middlesex, on the borders of 
Bucks. Masson writes: "The site of the house is still to be 
identified by two low mounds, an old garden, and a large old 
cedar of Lebanon, on a fine grassy slope, crowned with trees, 
close behind Harefield Church, on the side of the road going 
from Uxbridge to Rickmansworth. The scenery is charming, the 
Colne flowing here through ground more hilly than that about 
Horton, and as richly wooded." {Life of Milton 1. 600.) The 
place is but ten miles from Horton, and Milton may have visited 
it, but there is no proof of this. Verity thinks the reference to 
a "mount" in Arcades 55 in harmony with Masson's description. 

Harewood. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 235. 

A forest in Yorkshire. See Freeman, Historical Essays, First 
Series, p. 24. 

Harfleur. See Harflew. 

Harflew. Commonplace 243. 

Evidently Harfleur, a seaport of northern France near the 
mouth of the Seine. 

Harwich. Moscovia (5) 8. 503. 

A seaport of eastern England at the confluence of the Stour 
and the Orwell. In the account from which Milton drew this 
part of his narrative (Hak. 1. 234), the name Orwell is used where 
Milton uses Harwich. 

Hassia. See Hessen. 

Hastings. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 277, 296, 297 (twice); 1 Defens. (8) 

6. 140. 

A seaport of Sussex. On a plain near by, William the Norman 
defeated Harold. 

Hatfield Chase. See Hethfeild. 

Havana. Contra Hisp. 7. 358, 360. 

The chief city of the island of Cuba, on the north shore. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 139 

Heav'n Field (Denisburn). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 15.4. 

A battlefield in Northumbria near an unidentified tributary of 
the Tine called Denisburn. Milton's source is Bede 3. 1. 

Hebrew. See Israel. 

Hebrides. Lycidas 156. (See also lies.) 

A group of islands on the western coast of Scotland. 
Hebron (Chebron). Samson 148; 1 Defens. (2) 6. 38. 

An ancient city of Palestine about twenty miles south-south- 
west of Jerusalem. To " the top of an hill that is before Hebron " 
(Judges 16.3) Samson carried the gates of Gaza. Milton's 
description of the city as a "seat of Giants old" comes from 
Numbers 13. 22, 33: "And they ascended by the south, and came 
unto Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children 
of Anak, were. . . . And there we saw the giants, the sons of 
Anak, which come of the giants; and we were in our own sight 
as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." Cp. Joshua 
11. 21; 21. 11. 

Hebrus. Lycidas 63. 

A river rising in northwestern Thrace, near Mount Rhodope, 
and flowing into the ^gean. The words of Milton suggest those 
of Virgil: "Then too, while his native Hebrus carried down the 
midst of its rolling flood his head, rent from the marble rock, 
the voice and chilled tongue of themselves called 'Eurydice.' " 
{Georgics 4. 524 ff.) 

Hecatompylos. P. R. 3. 287. (See also Hispahan.) 

A city of Parthia, the name of which means "of a hundred 
gates"; the site is unknown. Pliny says that it is the capital 
of Parthia, one hundred and thirty-three miles from the Caspian 
Gates. (6. 15.) 

Heidelberga. Rami Vita 7. 182 (twice). 

Heidelberg, a city, with an ancient university, in Baden, on 
the River Neckar. 

Helicon. See Aonian. 

Hellespont. P. L. 10. 309. 

The strait separating Asia and Europe, and joining the ^gean 
Sea and the Sea of Marmora, now usuallv called the Dardanelles. 



140 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

The event mentioned by Milton is told by Herodotus: "Mean- 
while they were bridging over the Hellespont from Asia to Europe. 
Now there is in the Chersonese of the Hellespont between the 
city of Sestos and Madytos, a broad foreland running down into 
the sea right opposite Abydos. ... To this foreland they on 
whom this work was laid were making their bridges, starting 
from Abydos, the Phenicians constructing the one with ropes of 
white flax, and the Egyptians the other, which was made with 
papyrus rope. Now from Abydos to the opposite shore is a 
distance of seven furlongs. But when the strait had been bridged 
over, a great storm came on and dashed together all the work and 
broke it up. Then when Xerxes heard it he was exceedingly 
enraged, and bade them scourge the Hellespont with three 
hundred strokes of the lash and let down into the sea a pair of 
fetters. Nay, I have heard further that he sent branders also 
with them to brand the Hellespont. However, this may be, 
he enjoined them, as they were beating, to say Barbarian and 
presumptuous words as follows: 'Thou bitter water, thy master 
lays upon thee this penalty, because thou didst wrong him not 
having suffered any wrong from him: and Xerxes the king will 
pass over thee whether thou be willing or no; but with right, as 
it seems, no man doeth sacrifice to thee, seeing that thou art a 
treacherous and briny stream.' . . . Meanwhile other chief con- 
structors proceeded to make the bridges." (7. 33-6.) The 
bridge is mentioned briefly by many other writers, such as Mela 
(2. 2), Solinus (12.1), and Pliny (4. 12). 

Helligelandt. Safe-cond. 

An island in the North Sea, belonging to Schleswig-Holstein. 

Helvetia. See Swizzerland. 

Renault. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 15 (thrice). (See also Dell, Elvers- 
ham, Estambruges, Hania, Scaldis.) 
Hainaut is now a province of Belgium. Milton's account of 

the wars there was perhaps taken from Stow's Annales (ed. 

1631, p. 9) in which Bergomas and Lessabeus are cited. The 

passage quoted from Spenser is F. Q.2. 10. 24. Spenser's source 

is unascertained. 

Herculean Pillars. See Hercules' Pillars. 
Herculeis Columnse. See Hercules' Pillars. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 141 

Hercules' Pillars (Herculean Pillars, Herculeis Columnse). 

Areopag. 4. 432; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 11; 2 Defens. 6. 251. (See 

also Cales, Gibraltar.) 

The two rocks at the eastern extremity of the Straits of 
Gibraltar, of which the one in Europe is called Gibraltar, and the 
one in Africa Jebel-el-Mina. They were known to the ancients 
as Calpe and Abyla. (Mela 2. 6.) They were believed to form 
a limit to the west beyond which no mortal could pass. Pindar, 
for example, writes as follows: "No further is it possible for him 
to sail untraversed sea beyond the pillars of Herakles, which the 
hero-god set to be wide-famed witnesses of the end of voyaging: 
for he had overcome enormous wild-beasts on the seas, and tracked 
the streams through marshes to where he came to the goal that 
turned him to go back homeward, and there did he mark out 
the ends of the earth." {Nem. 3. 19-26.) Milton contrasts 
the Pillars of Hercules with the farthest point reached by Diony- 
sus in the east, and uses these two places, for the ancients the 
extremities of the known world, to denote the limits of the world 
as known to him. {2 Defens. 6. 251.) The same thought ap- 
pears in the following: 

From India and the golden Chersoness, 

And utmost Indian Isle Taprobane, 

Dusk faces with white silken Turbants wreath'd: 

From Gallia, Gades, and the Brittish West. 

(P. R. 4. 74-77.) 

The Columns of Hercules were sometimes supposed to be actual 
pillars in the temple of the Phoenician Hercules at Cadiz. Still 
another phase of belief appears in the following lines of Dionysius 
Periegetes: "You, O Muses, tell of the winding paths, beginning 
in order at the western ocean where verily at the limits of Her- 
cules, at Gades on the utmost border, stand the pillars, a great 
marvel, under the high headland of wide-spreading Atlas, where 
a brazen pillar, enormous, concealed in dense clouds, extends 
to the sky." (LI. 62-8.) 

Hercynian Wildernes. Areopag. 4. 437. 

Milton thinks of this region as lying west of Transylvania, the 
eastern part of Hungary. It is usually called the Hercynian 
Forest. Mercator describes it as the largest forest of Germany, 
spoken of by all the most famous of the Greeks and Latins, among 



142 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

whom he names Mela, Strabo, PHny, and Caesar. Parts of it 
were called the Black Forest and the Hartz Forest, and it was 
also known as Thuringian or Bohemian, from the lands containing 
part of it. Finally Mercator quotes Pandulf Collenuccio, who 
describes it as stretching to the country of the Tartars, where 
it is called the black or obscure forest, without boundaries, path- 
less, the haunt of ferocious beasts and powerful supernatural 
beings, and wholly inaccessible to men. (P. 415.) 

Hereford. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 226; (6) 5. 282, 286 (thrice), 289. 
A town of Herefordshire, on the River Wye. 

Herefordshire. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 216 (twice); (6) 5. 277, 279, 
282, 286. 
A county of southwestern England on the Welsh border. 

Hermon (Senir). P. L. 12. 141, 142, 146. 

The highest mountain of Palestine, a southern spur of Anti- 
Lebanon, called Shenir by the Amorites. (Deuteronomy 3.9.) 
Fuller describes it as "a branch of Lebanon bended southward, 
a stately strong mountain fixed on firm foundations"; and as 
"a chain of continued hills." (P. 92.) The maps of the time 
(e. g., Adrichomius, p. 74) represent it as a "long ridge of Hills" 
(P. L. 12. 146) northeast of the Sea of Galilee. The idea is 
accentuated by such a passage as Canticles 4. 8, "From the top 
of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon," because of the 
use of more than one name. The words "From Hermon East 
to the great Western Sea" suggests the verses: "And the land 
of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sun rising, from Baal- 
gad under Mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath: and 
all the inhabitants of the hill country, from Lebanon unto Mis- 
rephoth-maim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out 
from before the children of Israel." (Joshua 13. 5-6.) In 
making Hermon or Senir the eastern boundary of the tribes 
dwelling east of the Jordan, Milton agrees with the cartographers, 
such as Ortelius {Parergon, p. 18), and with Fuller, who writes: 
"Manasseh had Mount Hermon and Gilead on the east." (P. 
92.) At present such passages as Deuteronomy 3.8 are inter- 
preted as referring not to the eastern but to the northern and 
southern boundaries of the tribes east of the Jordan. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 143 

Hertford. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 216. 

The chief town of Hertfordshire, built on both sides of the River 
Lea . ( Cli ronicle 913.) 

Hertfordshire. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 216; (6) 5. 250. 

A county of southern England, bounded on the north by 
Cambridge, and on the south by Middlesex. 

Hesdena. Lit. Oliv. (73) 7. 324. 

Hesdin, a town of Pas de Calais, France. 

Hesdin. See Hesdena. 

Hesebon. P. L. 1. 408. (See also Seon's Realme.) 

Heshbon (Vulgate, Hesebon) was a city beyond Jordan, five 
miles northeast of Mount Nebo. It is often mentioned in the 
Bible as the capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites. It had 
formerly been a city of Moab. (Numbers 21. 21-31 ; Isaiah 15.4; 
16.6-9; Jeremiah 49.3.) 

Heshbon. See Hesebon. 

Hesperia. See Spain. 

Hesperian (Hesperides). Eleg. 3. 46; 5. 82; Comus 4-5 (fifteen 
canceled lines appear at this point in the Cambridge MS.), 
393, 981; P. L. 3. 568; 4. 250; 8. 632; P. R. 2. 357. (See 
also Spain.) 

The mythical garden of the Hesperides was the cause of much 
speculation among the ancients. Pliny puts it in Mauretania, 
where a grove of wild olives was said to be a remnant of it. (5. 1.) 
See also Virgil, ^neid 4. 486. According to another view the 
Islands of the Hesperides lay off the desert shore of Africa. 
(Pliny 6. 31; Mela 3. 10.) In his description of Cyrenaica, 
Scylax writes as follows: "There, in an elevated place, is the 
garden of the Hesperides. The place is sixteen fathoms high, 
circular, and with precipitous sides, nowhere having a way 
down. In breadth and length it extends two stades, not less, 
in every direction. It is thickly shaded with trees crowded in 
among each other in the densest fashion. The trees there are the 
lotus, apples of all kinds, pomegranates, pears, arbutuses, mul- 
berries, vines, myrtles, laurels, ivy, olives, wild olives, almonds, 
and walnut-trees." (Periplus, Sect. 108.) In the elevation of 



144 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

the garden, and other points, this description is of the same 
type as Milton's description of the Garden of Eden, and shows 
why Milton could think of his garden as Hesperian. In P. L. 
8. 632, and Eleg. 5. 82, Milton uses the word "Hesperian" 
after the Latin fashion to mean western, and possibly also in 
P. L. 3. 568. There he perhaps refers to the mythical Islands 
of the Blest, or Fortunate Islands, which might easily be asso- 
ciated with the Islands of the Hesperides, for they lay far to the 
west, beyond the bounds of human habitation. "There round 
the islands of the blest the Ocean-breezes blow, and golden 
flowers are glowing, some from the land on trees of splendor, and 
some the water feedeth, with wreaths whereof they entwine their 
hands." (Pindar, Olymp. 2. 70-4.) Milton's other references are 
unambiguous, for they mention the tree bearing golden apples 
which was the centre of the garden of the Hesperides. (Ovid, 
Met. 4. 621 ff.; Euripides, Hercules Furens 394 IT.) In P. R. 
2. 357 the word Hesperides perhaps means the garden itself 
rather than the women who possessed it. With P. L. 8. 631-2, 
where the Cape Verde Islands (see Verdant Isles) are associated 
with the Hesperides, should be compared Milton's other refer- 
ences to western islands, such as the Azores {q. v.). The Canaries 
(see Teneriff) were often identified with the Fortunate Islands. 

Hesperian Fields. See Italy. 

Hesperides. See Hesperian. 

Hessen (Hassia). Kings & Mag. 4. 473; Commonplace 

110. 

Hesse (Latin, Hessia) was a landgraviate of the German em- 
pire which lay along the Main and the middle Rhine. 

Hethfeild. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 153. 

Hatfield Chase, near Doncaster, Yorkshire. 

Hetruria. See Tuscan. 

Hetrusca Ditio. See Tuscan. 

Heworth Moore. Eikonocl. (10) 3. 412. 

Heworth is a village on the River Tyne, below Newcastle. 

Hexham (Hagustald). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 179. 

A town upon the River Tyne, once the seat of a monastery. 

Hibernia. See Ireland. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 145 

Hierapolis. Animadv. (PS. 168) 3.249. 

An ancient city of Phrygia, the seat of an episcopal see pre- 
sided over by Apollinarius in the latter part of the second century. 

Hierosolymae. See Jerusalem. 
Himerides. Damon. 1. 

The nymphs of the River Himera, Sicily. There were two 
rivers of the name in the island, one flowing north, the other 
south. The name is often mentioned by Theocritus. (5. 124, 
etc.) 

Hinnom (Gehenna, Tophet). P. L. 1. 404, 405. (See also 
Opprobrious Hill, Siloa, Solomon, Garden of.) 

A valley west and south of Jerusalem, joining with the Kidron 
Valley south of Siloam. Milton calls it "the pleasant Vally of 
Hinnom," doubtless having in mind some such description as 
that of Jerome, who speaks of it "as watered by the Fountains 
of Siloam, pleasant and shady, and presenting the delights 
of gardens." {In Jeremiam 7. 31.) Cf. P. L. 3. 30-32. His 
account of the place as the scene of the worship of Moloch 
depends on such passages as Jeremiah 7. 31-32, and 2 Kings 23. 
10. The grove in this valley, sacred to Moloch, is shown by 
Adrichomius on his map of Jerusalem. (P. 145.) Selden ex- 
plains that according to the etymology of the name in Hebrew 
the valley was said to be called the valley of the Sons of Hinnom 
" from the outcry or lamentations of the children, while they were 
being burned" as offerings to Moloch. In like manner Tophet 
is derived from the Hebrew name for drum, "because a noise of 
drums was made in the place that no lamentations and outcries 
however loud might be heard by the parents " {De Diis Syriis, 
London, 1726, p. 314) who were sacrificing their children to the 
god. The word Gehenna, applied to hell, comes, he says, from 
the same source. 

Hispahan. P. L. 11. 394. (See also Tauris, Hecatompylos.) 

Ispahan, a city in the central part of Persia. John Cart- 
wright, who in 1603 traveled in Persia, described it as follows: 
"This Citie in times past, was called Ecatompolis, the Citie of 
a hundred gates, and well it may keepe that name still, since the 
huge walls of the same containe in circuit an easie dales journey 
on horsebacke, and is become the greatest Citie in all the Persian 



146 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIOx\ARY OF MILTON 

Dominions, which is so much the more magnified and made 
populous by reason of the Kings resiance therein. Very strong 
is this Citie by situation, compassed about with a very great 
wall, and watered with deep Channels of running Springs, con- 
veighed into it from a part of the Coronian Mountains, which 
are as a wall inaccessible about it. On the North side is erected 
a strong Fort or Castle, being compassed about with a wall of a 
thousand and seven hundred yards, and in the midst thereof is 
built a Tower, or rather a strong keepe, sundry Chambers and 
lodgings therein, but stored with little Ordnance. On the West 
side of this Citie standeth two Seraglios, the one for the King, 
the other for his Women, Palaces of great state and magnificence, 
far exceeding all other proud buildings of this Citie; the wals 
glister with red Marble and pargeting of divers colours, yea, all 
the Palace is paved with Checker and Tesseled worke, and on 
the same is spread Carpets wrought with Silke and Gold; the 
windowes of Alabaster, white Marble, and much other spotted 
Marble, the Poasts and Wickets of massie Ivory, checked with 
glistering blacke Ebony, so curiously wrought in winding knots, 
as may easier stay then satisfie the eyes of the wondering be- 
holder. Neere unto this Palace is a Garden very spacious and 
large, all flourishing and beautifull, replenished with a thousand 
sundry kinds of grafts, trees, and sweet smelling Plants, among 
which the Lilly, the Hyacinth, the Gillyflower, the Rose, the 
Violet, the Flower-gentle, and a thousand other odoriferous 
flowers, doe yeeld a most pleasant and delightful sight to all 
beholders. There are a thousand Fountaines, and a thousand 
Brookes; among them all, as the father of them all, a pretie 
River, which with his milde course and delightsome noyse, doth 
divide the Garden from the Kings Palace. . . . Since King Abas 
came to the Crowne, full twentie yeares and upwards, the Persian 
Empire hath flourished in sacred and redoubted Lawes, the 
People demeaning themselves after the best manner they can, 
abundance of Collections comming plentifully in, the Rents of his 
Chamber were increased more than ever they were in his Grand- 
father Tamas his time, Armes, Artes, and Sciences doe wonder- 
fully propser, and are very highly esteemed." {Pilgrimes 2. 
1432.) The change of the seat of the king mentioned by Milton 
is thus explained by Cartwright: "[Casbeen] is now one of the 
seats of the Persian Kings Empire, which was translated by 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 147 

King Tamas, this Kings grandfather, from Tauris, . . . though 
the King that now raigneth makes most of his abode in Hispaan, 
fourteen daies journey farther towards the East." {Ih. 2. 1430.) 

Hispania. See Spain. 

Hispaniola. Contra Hisp. 7. 354, 356, 361 (twice). 

Otherwise known as Haiti or San Domingo; the second largest 
island of the West Indies. 

1. Holland (Rowland). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 199. 
A wet, low part of Lincolnshire on the Wash. 

2. Holland. Eikonocl. (8) 3. 390, 393; (10) 3. 411, 412 (twice); 
(11) 3. 419; Kings & Mag. 4. 476; Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 115; 
1 Defens. (Praef.) 6. 6, 7, 14; (1) 6. 21; 2 Defens. 6. 257, 258, 
284, 305, 310; Pro Se Defens. 6. 341, 369; Respons. 6. 408, 
414, 416; Lit. Oliv. (26) 7. 269; (27) 7. 270; (79) 7. 330; 
Epist. Fam. (14) 7. 391; (27) 7. 406; Commonplace 54; 2 Eng. 
Let., Masson 4. 479. (See also Netherlands.) 

North and South Holland are two provinces of the Netherlands 
lying between the North Sea and the Zuyder Zee. In the time 
of Milton Holland was the most influential division of the United 
Provinces, and a refuge for exiled Englishmen of every party. 

Holmby (Holmeby). Eikonocl. (25) 3. 493; (26) 3. 498. 

Holmby House, a mansion near Northampton, was the place 
of imprisonment of Charles I in the year 1647. Camden de- 
scribes it as an "unparalleled pattern of magnificent building." 
(2. 165.) 

Holme. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 214. 

The passage in which this name occurs is almost a translation 
from Roger of Hoveden (a. d. 904), whom Milton mentions. 
The place is unidentified. {Tivo Chr. 2. 124.) 

Holmeby. See Holmby. 

Holsatia. See Holstein. 

Holstein (Holsatia). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. Ill, 120; Safe-cond. 

The region bounded by the Eider on the north and the Elbe 
on the south, now a part of Germany. 

Holy Hand. See Lindisfame. 

Holy Land. See Canaan. 



148 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Horeb. See Oreb. 

Horonaim. P. L. 1. 409. 

A city of Moab, of unknown site. It is mentioned in Isaiah 
51.5, and Jeremiah 48. 3, 5, 34, as one of the chief places of Moab. 

Horsted. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 116. 

A place near Ailsford, Kent, supposed to be named after Horsa 
the Saxon, who was buried there. (Camden 1. 213.) 

Hounds-Low. Eikonocl. (18) 3. 472. 

Houndslow is a village of Middlesex, west of London, con- 
nected by a road with Colnbrook. 

Rowland. See Holland. 

Hull. Eikonocl. (8) 3. 390 (thrice), 391 (thrice), 393 (thrice), 

394, 396; (10) 3. 411 (twice), 412, 416; 1 Defens. (10) 6. 170; 

Moscovia (1) 8. 473; 2 Eng. Let., Masson 4. 479. 

A town of Yorkshire of which Camden says: "The river Hull 

falls into the Humber, having near its mouth a town of its own 

name. ... At present it is the most considerable port in these 

parts for handsome buildings, strong walls, good ships, resort of 

merchants, and plenty of all things. . . . The citizens . . . 

fortified their city with a brick wall and a number of towers on 

the sides not defended by the river." (3. 14.) At the outbreak 

of the Civil War, Hull, under the command of Sir John Hotham, 

was of importance because munitions of war were stored there. 

Humber (Abra). Vacat. Ex. 99; Damon. 176; Hist. Brit. (1) 
5. 13, 19, 21; (3) 5. 120, 135; (4) 137, 147, 152, 171, 179; 
(5) 5. 198, 203, 221, 223 (twice); (6) 5. 242, 252, 280, 295. 
An estuary of the eastern coast of England, separating York- 
shire and Lincolnshire. In the line: 

Or Humber loud that keeps the Scythians Name, 

Milton refers both to a striking characteristic of the river, the 
noise made by its eagre at flood tide, and to the story about its 
name which he tells in Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 13 as follows: "Humber 
King of the Hunns, who with a Fleet invaded that Land, was 
slain in fight, and his people driv'n back into Loegria. Locrine 
and his Brother goe out against Humber; who now marching 
onward, was by them defeated, and in a River drown 'd, which 
to this day retains his name." Spenser tells the story thus: 



Cf. also: 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 149 

Then came those sixe sad brethren, like forlorne, 
That whilome were (as antique fathers tell) 
Sixe valiant Knights of one faire Nymphe yborne, 
Which did in noble deedes of armes excell, 
And wonned there where now Yorke people dwell; 
Still Ure, swift Werfe, and Oze the most of might, 
High Swale, unquiet Nide, and troublous Skell; 
All whom a Scythian king, that Humber hight, 
Slew cruelly, and in the river drowned quight. 

But past not long ere Brutus warlike sonne, 

Locrinus, them aveng'd, and the same date, 

Which the proud Humber unto them had donne. 

By equall dome repayd on his owne pate; 

For in the selfe same river, where he late 

Had drenched them, he drowned him againe. 

And nam'd the river of his wretched fate 

Whose bad condition yet it doth retaine, 

Oft tossed with his stormes which therein still remaine. 

(7^.(2.4.11.37,38.) 

He them encountred, a confused rout, 
Foreby the River that whylome was hight 
The ancient Abus, where with courage stout 
He them defeated in victorious fight, 
And chaste so fiercely after fearfull flight. 
That forst their chieftain, for his safeties sake, 
(Their Chiefetain Humber named was aright,) 
Unto the mighty streame him to betake. 
Where he an end of batteill and of life did make. 

{F. Q. 2. 10. 16.) 

Ne storming Humber, though he looked stout. 

{F. (3. 4. 11. 30.) 



Drayton speaks of the noise made by Humber: 

What Flood comes to the Deepe, 
Then Humber that is heard more horribly to rore? 
For when my Higre comes, I make my either shore 
Even tremble with the sound, that I afarre doe send. 

{Polyolbion 28.) 

The Humber is the "vorticibusque frequens Abra" {Damon. 176), 
of which Camden says: "The Ouse, now grown broader and 
swifter, falls with great violence into the Abus yEstuarium, as 
Ptolomy calls what the Saxons and we call Humber. . . . Both 
names seem derived from the British Aber, which signifies the 



150 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

mouth of a river, and was given, as I suppose, by way of eminence 
to this, because the Ure or Ouse empties into it the many rivers 
it has received, and other very considerable rivers fall into it. 
It is certainly the largest sestuary in Britain. Being increased 
by the tides of the foaming ocean, it drives back their and its 
own waters at time of ebb with great force and noise and great 
hazard to seamen." (3. 13.) 

Hungary. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 263, 285, 286; Moscovia (4) 8. 490. 
In Milton's time the Turks controlled most of Hungary. 

Huntington. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 217, 218; (6) 5. 251. 
A town of Huntingtonshire on the Ouse. 

Hydaspes. P. L. 3. 436; 1 Defens. (2) 6. 30. 

A river of India, the modern Jehlam, rising in Kashmir and 
flowing south into the Chenab, a tributary of the Indus. In 
1 Defens. Milton quotes Virgil. (Georg. 4. 211.) 

Hymettus. Eleg. 5. 52; P. R. 4. 247. 

A mountain range of Attica, bounding the plain of Athens on 
the southeast. Milton's adjective "flowrie" may have come 
from Ovid, who applies that epithet to it. (Met. 7. 702; Ars 
Am. 3. 687.) The mountain was famous for its honey. 

Hypanis. Decl. Poland 8. 462. 

The Latin name of the Bug, a river of Podolia, Poland, 
emptying into the estuary of the Dneiper. 

Hyperboreus. Quint. Nov. 95 ; Mansus 26. 

The Hyperboreans were a mythical people living in the far 
north. Hence the adjective means northern. 

Hytcanian. P. R. 3. 317. (See also Caucasus.) 

Hyrcania is a region southeast of the Caspian Sea, often called 
the Hyrcanian Sea. Milton's words "the Hyrcanian cliffs of 
Caucasus" perhaps refer to the proximity of the sea to the 
Caucasus Mountains, since the country of Hyrcania is not near 
them. Compare Marlowe's line: 

Through rocks more steepe and sharp than Caspian cliftes. 

{2 Tamhurlaine 4634.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 151 

Hyrcania is frequently associated with the Caucasus and repre- 
sented as a wild and savage country abounding in fierce animals, 
especially tigers (e. g., ^neid4. 366; Merchant of Venice 2. 1. 41). 

Iberian Dales. P. R. 3. 318. 

Iberia is the country between the Black and Caspian Seas, 
corresponding to the modern Georgia. Strabo describes it as 
lying among the Caucasus, and difficult of access. (11. 3.) 
The following suggests Milton's "dark Iberian dales": "In this 
Kingdome of Georgia is a marvellous strange Wonder or Miracle, 
which I durst not have reported or beleeved, if I had not scene 
it with my eyes. ... In those parts there is a Province or 
Countrey called Hansem, being in circuit about three dayes 
journey, whose whole extent is all covered over with such thicke 
and palpable darknesse that none can see anything therein, 
neither do any dare to goe into that Land, because they know not 
the way out againe. Those that inhabit neere about it affirme 
that they have often heard the sound of mens voices crying, of 
Cockes crowing, and the neighing of Horses in the Wood, and 
by the course of a River that runneth out from that place, there 
appear certaine signes that there are people inhabiting therein." 
{Pilgrimes 3. 110.) 

Iberian Fields. See Spain. 

Iccius. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 38. 

Usually called Itius. A port of France, not identified, upon 
the Straits of Dover. Camden thought it to be Whitsan. 

(1. 221.) 

Iconium. Hirelings 5. 369. 

A city of the ancient district of Lycaonia, Asia Minor. 

1. Ida. II Pens. 29; P. L. 1. 515. (See also Greet.) 

A mountain in central Crete, connected with legends of Zeus. 
Dionysius Periegetes, for example, writes of it: "Honored Crete, 
nurse of great Zeus, wide, and rich, and stocked with cattle, 
above which is Ida, Ida luxuriant with oaks of beautiful foliage, 
and vast in size." (LI. 500-4.) See also Diodorus 5. 70. 

2. Ida. Eleg. 5. 62; P. L. 5.382. 

A range of mountains encircling the territory of Troy, and 
hence often mentioned in the Iliad. Milton refers to the worship 
11 



152 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

on this mountain of Cybele, whom Virgil calls "Ida?an mother 
of the gods." {Mneid 10. 252.) 

Idle. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 147. 

A river of Nottinghamshire flowing from Sherwood Forest 
into the Trent. (Camden 2. 284.) 

Idumanius. Damon. 90. 

According to Camden (2. 45), Idumanus, identified with the 
Blackwater River, or Bay, Essex. 

Ignesham. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 134. (See also Benson.) 
Eynesham, Oxfordshire. 

lies. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 223, 233. 

The- Hebrides (g. v.) and part of western Scotland, once a 
Danish kingdom. 

Iliacus. See Troy. 

Ilion. See Troy. 

Ilissus. P. R. 4. 249; Epist. Fam. (8) 7. 380. 

A small stream rising on Mount Hymettus and flowing through 
Athens into the Phaleric Bay. Plato tells of the pleasant scenes 
along the Ilissus. The stream itself he refers to only as "clear 
and bright," but he speaks of "the summer sounds" of the place, 
and of the "sound in the air shrill and summerlike." {PhcBdrus 
229.) This may have suggested to Milton the words "his whis- 
pering stream." 

Illiricum. See Illyria. 

Illium. See Troy. 

Illyria (Illiricum). P. L. 9. 505; Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 273. 

In its widest extent, Illyria included the country extending 
from Italy to Macedonia, and from the Danube on the north to 
Epirus on the south. Milton refers to the story told by Ovid in 
Met. 4. 562-602. 

Imaus. P. L. 3. 431. (See also Scythia, Tartaria.) 

A name sometimes applied to the Himalayas or part of them, 
but more often to mountains extending north from the Himalayas 
to the Arctic Ocean, and cutting in two the northern part of 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 153 

Asia, known as Tartaria or Scythia. The Scythians on the west 
and east of the chain were known respectively as those intra and 
extra Imaum, as appears, for example, on Mercator's map of 
Tartaria. (P. 665.) This is what Milton had in mind when he 
wrote : 

a Vultur on Imaus bred, 
Whose snowie ridge the roving Tartar bounds. 

The description of the mountain as snow-covered suggests the 
words of Pliny: "Imaus, which signifieth in that country language 
full of snow." (6. 17.) 

Ind. See India, East. 

India. Contra Hisp. 7. 352, 363. (See following articles.) 

In the time of Milton, India was the " name given to all remote 
countries East and West." (Pilgrimage, p. 859.) 

India, East (Ind, India OrientaHs). Nat. Non 45; Comus 139, 

606; P. L. 1. 781; 2. 2; 3. 436; 5. 339; 9. 81, 1102, 1108; 

P. R. 4. 74, 75; Divorce (1. 13) 4. 54; Tetrach. (Gen. 1. 27) 

4. 148; Lit. Senat. (44) 7. 234; (45) 7. 236 (twice); Lit. Oliv. 

(26) 7. 269; (30) 7. 273; (31) 7. 274; Grammar (2) 6. 487; 

Moscovia (3) 8. 485. (See also Agra, Banda, India (West), 

Malabar, Tidore.) 

The peninsula of Hindustan and the other lands and islands 
in that quarter, especially to the eastward. Milton seems to 
have been especially attracted by descriptions of Indian fruits, 
as he indicates in the following: 

From each tender stalk 
Whatever Earth all-bearing Mother yeilds 
In India East or West, or middle shoare 
In Pontus or the Punic Coast, or where 
Alcinous reign'd, fruit of all kindes, in coate. 
Rough, or smooth rin'd, or bearded husk, or shell 
She gathers, Tribute large, and on the board 
Heaps with unsparing hand; for drink the Grape 
She crushes, inoffensive moust, and meathes 
From many a berrie, and from sweet kernels prest 
She tempers dulcet creams, nor these to hold 
Wants her fit vessels pure. (P. L. 5. 337-348.) 

Some of this perhaps came from the writings of Linschoten, and 
at leastis illustrated by his description of the cocoanut: "The 



154 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Nuts are as great as an Estridge Egge, some smaller, and some 
greater, and are outwardly covered with a huske or shell which 
as long as it groweth on the tree is greene without like an Acorne 
with his huske or cup. This huske being dry and pulled off is 
haire like Hempe. ... It happeneth oftentimes that by con- 
tinuance of time the water within the Cocus doth convert and 
congeale into a certaine kind of yellow Apple, which is very 
savourie and sweet. The huske being taken off, the shell serveth 
for many uses, as to make Ladles with woodden handles, and 
also certaine little pots, which being fastened to a sticke, they 
doe therewith take and lade water out of their great pots. . . . 
Of the white of these Nuts in India they make pottage, and 
dresse meate withall, strayning and pressing out the Milke, 
wherein with many other mixtures they seeth their Rice." 
{Pilgrimes 2. 1778.) Compare the lines: 

The savourie pulp they chew, and in the rinde 
Still as they thirsted scoop the brimming stream. 

(P. L. 4. 335-336.) 

Fruits of Palm-tree pleasantest to thirst 
And hunger both. 

{lb. 8. 212-13.) 

Small store will serve, where store, 
AH seasons, ripe for use hangs on the stalk. 

ilh. 5. 322-323.) 

The last, though it may have come from some such source as 
Homer's description of the garden of Alcinolis {q. v.), resembles 
a passage by Linschoten: "The trees whereon the Jambos doe 
grow are as great as Plum trees, and very like unto them; it is 
an excellent and a very pleasant fruit to looke on, as big as an 
Apple; it hath a red colour and somewhat whitish, so cleare and 
pure, that it seemeth to be painted or made of Wax; it is very 
pleasant to eate, and smelleth like Rose water; it is white within, 
and in eating moist and waterish; it is a most dainty fruit, as 
well for beauty to the sight, as for the sweet savour and taste. 
. . . The blossoms are likewise very faire to the sight, and have 
a sweet smell; they are red and somewhat whitish of colour. 
This tree beareth fruit three or foure times every yeere, and, 
which is more wonderfull, it hath commonly on the one side or 
halfe of the tree ripe Jambos, and the leaves fallen off, and on the 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 155 

other side or halfe it hath all the leaves, and beginneth againe to 
blossome, and when that side hath fruit, and that the leaves fall 
off, then the other side beginneth againe to have leaves, and to 
blossome, and so it continueth all the yeere long." {Pilgrimes 
2. 1776.) Linschoten tells also of a fig-tree which "beareth fruit 
and so continueth all the yeere long, and never leaveth bearing." 
The lines, 

Save what by frugal storing firmness gains 
To nourish, and superfluous moist consumes 

{P. L. 5. 325-326), 

suggest Linschoten's account of certain figs: "They are cut off 
when they are but halfe ripe, that is to say, when they are as 
yet halfe greene and halfe yellow, and hanged up in their houses 
upon beames, and so within foure or five dayes they will be fully 
ripe and all yellow." Cf. also the account of the cocoanut already 
quoted. 

Milton's reference to the Indian deity {Divorce (1. 13) 4. 54) 
which brings upon its worshipers misery instead of blessing 
suggests that he had read the numerous accounts given by 
Purchas of the horrible religious rites of India, such as the follow- 
ing: "Some are said to be so zealous in their Idol-service as to 
sacrifice their lives in their honour; whereunto they are per- 
swaded by the preachings of their Priests, as the most acceptable 
devotion. Many offer themselves, which being brought upon a 
scaffold, after certaine ceremonies put about his necke an iron 
collar, round without, but within very sharpe, from which 
hangeth a chaine down his brest into which, sitting downe, he 
putteth his feet, and whiles the Priest muttereth certaine words, 
the partie before the people with all his force stretcheth out his 
feet, and cuts off his head; their reward is that they are 
accounted Saints." (Pilgrimage, p. 616.) On the same page 
he writes of the "Indian Catharists" (Tetrach. (Gen, 1. 27) 4. 
148): "If Lice doe much annoy them, they call to them certaine 
Religious and holy men, after their account; and these Obser- 
vants will take upon them all those Lice which the other can 
finde, and put them on their head, there to nourish them." 

"That Pigmean Race beyond the Indian Mount" (F. L. 1. 
781) is thus described by Pliny: "Higher in the countrey, and 
above these, even in the edge and skirts of the mountaines, the 
Pygmaei Spythamei are reported to bee; called they are so. 



156 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

for that they are but a cubite three shaftments, or spannes, high, 
that is to say, three times nine inches. The clime wherin they 
dwell is very holesome, the aire healthie, and ever like to the 
temperature of the Spring, by reason that the Mountaines are 
on the North side of them, and beare off all cold blasts." (7. 2.) 
Pliny continues with an account of the battles of the pygmies and 
cranes mentioned by Milton in P. L. 1, 575. Cf. also Iliad 3. 
6. The Catalan map pictures, in the region just beyond the 
borders of India, the pygmies and cranes in battle. (Ruge, 
Geschichte . . . der Enid eckun gen, p. 78.) In Nat. Non 45 India 
means the extreme east. (Cf. Eleg. 3. 49.) The adjective 
"odoratus" refers to the spices of the country. (Cf. P. L. 2. 640.) 

India, West (India Occidentalis). P. L. 5. 339; Church-gov. 
(2) 3. 139; Contra Hisp. 7. 345 (twice), 347, 348 (twice), 349 
(twice), 350, 352 (twice), 3SZ, 354 (twice), 357, 362, 365, 366 
(thrice), 367, 368; 1 Prolus. 7. 418. (See also America, Cusco, 
India (East).) 

The whole of the continents of the western hemisphere, or at 
least the tropical portions of them. Books of travel of the time 
of Milton contain many accounts of the trees and fruits of Amer- 
ica, as for example: "Cabueriba is very great and esteemed for 
the Balme that it hath; to get this Balme they prick the barke 
of the tree, and lay a little Cotton wooU to the cuts, and from 
certaine to certaine dayes they goe to gather the Oyle that it 
hath distilled. The Portugals calle it Balme, because it is very 
like to the true Balme of the Vineyards of Engedi; it serveth for 
greene wounds, and taketh away the scarre; it smelleth very well, 
and of it, and of the barke of the tree they make Beades, and 
other smelling things. The Woods where they growe doe smell 
well, and the beasts doe goe and rubbe on this tree, it seemeth to 
bee to heale them of some diseases." {Pilgrimes 4. 1308.) 
Compare the line: 

Groves whose rich Trees wept odorous Gummes and Balme. 

(P. L. 4. 248.) 

The worship of the sun in America, to which Milton alludes 
in i Prolus. 7. 418, is frequently described. Purchas gives the 
following account of the great image of the sun in a temple at 
Cuzco in Peru: "In the East or high Altar stood the figure of 
the Sunne, made of one planke or plate of gold, twice as thicke 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 157 

as the other plates on the wals, the face round with rayes and 
flames of fire, all of a peece. It was so great that it tooke up all 
the end from one wall to the other. Neither had they any other 
idols in that or any other Temple but this, for indeede they 
worshipped no other gods but the Sunne. " (Pilgrimes 4, 1464.) 
Another account he gives of the same image is as follows: "In 
this same house was the Pinchao, which was an Idoll of the Sunne, 
of most fine Gold, wrought with great riches of Stones, the which 
was placed to the East with so great Art as the Sunne at his rising 
did cast his beames thereon; and as it was of most fine mettall 
his beames did reflect with such a brightnesse that it seemed 
another Sunne." {lb. 3. 1032.) 

Indicum Mare. Contra Hisp. 7. 363. (See also Ethiopian.) 

The Indian Ocean, or possibly the waters surrounding the 
Indies both East and West. See India. 

Indus. P. L. 9. 82; P. R. 3. 272. (See also Ganges.) 

A river of India, rising in the Himalayas and flowing into the 
Arabian Sea. Since it was the western boundary of India, it 
was known in Europe at an early date. 

Inghilterra. See England. 

Ionia. Eleg. 1. 23; P. L. 1. 508; Areopag. 4. 401; 8 Prolus. 7. 

464. 

The part of the shore of Asia Minor inhabited by Greeks, 
extending from Phocaea in the north to Miletus in the south. 
Milton three times mentions Ionia in connection with Homer. 
(See Melesigenes.) 

Ipres. Lit. Senat. (9) 7. 195. 

Ypres, a town of West Flanders, Belgium. 

Ipswich. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 241, 250. 
A town on the River Orwell in Suffolk. 

Irassa. P. R. 4. 564. 

"The name Irassa, of the city of Antaeus, seems to have been 
taken by Milton from Pind. P. 9. 106: 'There went up suitors 
to the city of Irasa to woo Antaios' lovely-haired daughter of 
great renown.' The scholiast on Pindar says, however, that the 
Antaeus living in the city Irassa was not the one who strove with 



158 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Heracles, but he adds that, among others, Pherecydes says that 
the latter Antaeus came from Irassa (neut. plur.) on Lake Tri- 
tonis [see Triton] in Cyrene. . Herodotus mentions Irassa (neut. 
plur.) as a locality of Libya. (4. 159.) That Milton says 'in 
Irassa' indicates reference to a region as the home of Antaeus, 
for which he has the scholiast's authority." (Osgood, Classical 
Mythology of Milton, s. v. Antaeus. He quotes the Greek of 
Pindar.) 
Irchenfeild. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 216. 

Archenfield, on the borders of Herefordshire and Gloucester- 
shire, called in the time of Milton Irchenfeld. (Camden 2. 442.) 

Ireland (Hibernia). Reformation (2) 3. 54; Church-gov. (1. 7) 
3. 132, 137 (twice); Apology 3. 275; (8) 3. 303; Eikonocl. (1) 
3. 339; (2) 3. 348; (4) 3. 360; (8) 3. 391; (12) 3. 429 (twice), 
432, 437, 438, 439; (13) 3. 441; (18) 3. 470; Ormond 4. 555 
(twice), 556, 558, 559, 567, 575; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 23; (2) 5. 52, 
67, 77, 89; (4) 5. 162, 167 (twice); (5) 5. 217, 223 (twice), 224, 
234 (twice); (6) 5. 281, 285; Notes: Grif. 5. 396; Easy Way 
5. 421; 1 Defens. (6) 6. 122; (10) 6. 167; (12) 6. 178, 181; 
2 Defens. 6. 320; Lit. Oliv. (59) 7. 308; Contra Hisp. 7. 363; 
Moscovia (5) 8. 503; Commonplace 74 (twice), 188 (twice), 
242; MS. 2. 113; Sixteen Let. 16. 

Ireland was important in the politics of England during the 
Civil War because of the support it gave to Charles I. The 
reconquest of the island by the Parliament of England was 
begun in 1649, under the leadership of Cromwell. 

Irish Sea (Vergivium Salum). Lycidas, Sub-title; Eleg. 1. 4; 
Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 89 (twice). 
The body of water between Great Britain and Ireland. 

Irtis. Moscovia (2) 8. 483. 

The Irtish, a river of western Siberia, a western tributary of 
the Ob. Milton refers in a note to the following passage: "The 
Citie Tobolsca is situated on the River Yrtis, which with a 
most forcible stream, and as it were another Danubius, rising 
from the South, taketh his course toward the Oby, through which 
it seemeth to run with the same course. On the other side is 
the River Tobol, of which the Citie taketh her name." (Pil- 
grimes 3. 526.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 159 

Ismenian Steep. P. R. 4. 575. (See also 1. Thebes.) 

The rock near Thebes from which the Sphinx hurled herself 
when her riddle was guessed by (Edipus. The Ismenus is a 
small river flowing past Thebes. Hence the word " Ismenian " 
is used to mean Theban. 

Isna. Bucer: Divorce (Test.) 4. 292. 

Isny, a small city of Swabia on the border of Bavaria, 

Ispahan. See Hispahan. 

Israel (Hebrew, Palestinus). Ps. 114. 5, 6; 136. 42, 73; 80. 1; 
81. 14, 35, 47, 55; 83. 15; Ad Patrem 85; P. L. 1. 413, 432, 
482; 12.267; P. R. 1. 217, 254; 2.36,42,89,311,442; 3.279, 
378, 406, 408, 410, 411, 413, 441; 4. 336, 480; Samson 39, 
179, 225, 233, 240, 242, 285, 342, 454, 1150, 1177, 1319, 1428, 
1527, 1540, 1560, 1663, 1714; Episcopacy 3. 91; Animadv. 
(16. 148) 3. 240; Divorce (1. Pref.) 4. 15; (2. 14) 4. 98; (2. 22) 
4.131; Tetrach. (Parl.)4. 140; Kings & Mag. 4. 453, 462, 467; 
Civil Power 5. 322; True Relig. 5. 413. (See also Canaan, 
Judah.) 
Though sometimes used in the sense of Land of Israel, the 

word Israel usually refers to the Israelitish nation rather than 

to the land occupied by them. 

Italy (Ausonia, Ausonian Land, Hesperian Fields, Italia). Son- 
net 15. 11; Eleg. 1. 70; Quint. Nov. 49; Ad Patrem 83; Ad 
Sal. 14; Mansus 12, 29; Ad Rous. 7; P. L. 1. 520, 739; 
P. R. 3. 102; Reformation (1) 3. 20, 24; (2) 3. 39 (thrice), 
46, 53; Church-gov. (1. 6) 3. 124; (2. Pref.) 3. 144, 145 
(twice); Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 273; Bucer: Divorce (Test.) 

4. 289; Education 4. 390; Areopag. 4. 402, 421; Hist. Brit. 
(1) 5. 4, 6, 8, 11 (twice), 15, 22; (2) 5. 28, 37, 53, 90, 91, 92 
(twice); (3) 5. 109; (4) 5. 184; Hirelings 5. 376; Easy Way 

5. 452; 2 Defens. 6. 268, 284 (twice), 285 (twice), 287 (thrice), 
289, 331; Pro Se Defens. 6. 392; Logic (1. 19) 7. 63; (1. 20) 
7. 65 (twice); Rami Vita 7. 183, 185; Epist. Fam. (9) 7. 382; 
5 Prolus. 7. 437 (twice); Moscovia (3) 8. 485; Commonplace 
110, 181, 183, 189 (twice), 193; 2 Eng. Let., Masson 4. 479. 
(See also Florence, Rome.) 

Italy was known in mythology as the abode of Saturn during 
the golden age. (P. L. 1. 520; 5 Frolus. 7. 437; 2 Defens. 6. 



160 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

285.) Before 1633 Milton acquired a knowledge of the language 
and literature of Italy. {Ad Patrem 83.) His classical studies 
made him familiar with its earlier history and its geography. 
When he went abroad he desired to visit Italy above all 
other countries because there humane letters and learning of 
every sort were especially cultivated. (2 Defens. 6. 285, 287). 
He entered the country in 1638, and remained nearly a year. 
His sojourn and his visits to the academies did not dispel 
his high opinion of Italian culture. (Church-gov. (2. Pref.) 3. 
144.) For the poets of Italy he expresses great admiration, 
ranking them with those of Athens, Rome, and Palestine. 
(Reformation (1) 3. 24; Church-gov. (2. Pref.) 3. 145; Animadv. 
(2) 3. 189.) But in spite of the pleasure which Milton took in 
the society of the learned men of Italy, the opportunity to 
buy books {2 Defens. 6. 289), and his admiration for the "three 
famousest men for wit and learning that Italy glories in," he 
could say: "I have sat among their lerned men, for that honor 
I had, and bin counted happy to be born in such a place of 
Philosophic freedom, as they suppos'd England was, while 
themselves did nothing but bemoan the servil condition into 
which lerning amongst them was brought; that this it was which 
had dampt the glory of Italian wits; that nothing had been there 
writt'n now these many years but flattery and fustian." {Areo- 
pag. 4. 428.) "If to bring a num and chil stupidity of soul, an 
unactive blindnesse of minde upon the people by their leaden 
doctrine, or no doctrine at all, if to persecute all knowing and 
zealous Christians by the violence of their courts, be to keep 
away schisme, they keep away schisme indeed; and by this 
kind of discipline all Italy and Spaine is as purely and politickly 
kept from schisme as England hath beene by them." {Church- 
gov. (1. 6) 3. 124.) "I have heard many wise and learned men 
in Italy" say that the Jesuits were "indeed the onely corrupters 
of youth, and good learning." (Reformatio?! 3. 46.) In spite 
of the inspiration which Milton drew from Italy, he came away 
with a greater hatred of that tyrannous Inquisition which im- 
prisoned investigators (Areopag. 4. 428), subjected books to the 
licenser (ib. 4. 404), and which had even raised in the mind of his 
friends fears for the safety of his own person. (2 Defens. 6. 288.) 
See Allodoli, Milton e V Italia; Masson, Life of Milton, vol. 1. 

Itius. See Iccius. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 161 

Ivronia. Animadv. (3. 37) 3. 213. 

An imaginary province described by Bishop Hall in Mundus 
Alter et Idem 1. 2. 1. 

Jabesh-Gilead. Eikonocl. (12) 3. 436. 

A city of Palestine, in Gilead, beyond the Jordan, said by 
Fuller to be "sweetly seated at the bottom of balm bearing moun- 
tains." (P. 85.) Milton refers to the narrative of Judges 21. 
8-14. 

Jactura. See Joccatra. 
Jakatra. See Joccatra. 
Japan. Animadv. (3. 37) 3. 213. 

In 1613 Japan was visited by an Englishman, Captain John 
Saris, who gave an account of the country. {Pilgrimes 1. 366 
ff.) He found Portuguese Jesuits already established there. In 
1618 Hondius made a map of the country. 

Jarosslawl. See Yeraslave. 

Javan, Isles of. Samson 716. (See also Tarsus.) 

The country of the Ionian Greeks, descended from Javan, 
grandson of Noah. The name is also applied to the Greeks in 
general, as in P. L. 1. 508. Javan is often mentioned in the 
Bible in connection with Tarshish and the Isles, as in Isaiah 
66. 19 and Ezekiel 27. 12-15. It is not necessary to think of 
actual islands ("the isles of Javan and Gadier"), for in the Bible 
"isles" is a term applied to lands bordering on the sea as well as 
to islands. Gadier {q. v.) is an island. 

Jenissey. Moscovia (3) 8. 485 (twice). 

The Yenisei, a river of Siberia flowing into the Arctic Ocean 
east of the River Ob. Milton's sources read as follows: "Jenisce 
being a River farre bigger than Obi, hath high mountaines on the 
East, among which are some that cast out fire and brimstone. 
The countrey is plaine to the West, and exceeding fertile, stored 
with plants, flowers, and trees of divers kmds. Also many 
strange fruits do grow therein, and there is great abundance of 
rare Fowles. Jenisce in the spring overfloweth the fields about 
seventie leagues, in like manner as they report unto us, as Nilus 
doth Egipt. Wherwith the Tingoesi being well acquainted, doe 
keepe beyond the River, and in the mountaines, untill it decrease. 



162 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

and then returne, and bring downe their heards of Cattell into 
the plaines." {Pilgrimes 3. 527.) "From the mouth of Ob to 
the great River Jenisce, as a Russe told mee, is four dayes and 
foure nights sayling. Betwixt Ob and Yenisce is high blacke 
Land." {Ih. 551.) "The great River Yenisce . . . should 
seeme not farre from China." {lb. 546.) 

Jerico. P. R. 2. 20; Doct. Christ. (1. 11) 1. 343. 

Jericho, a city of the plain of Jordan, on the western side 
of the river, about five miles from the Dead Sea. It is called the 
"city of palm trees" in Deuteronomy 34. 3. 

Jerusalem (Hierosolymae, Salem, Salymon). Passion 39; P. L. 
12. 340; P. R. 3. 234, 283, 373; 4. 544; Church-gov. (1. 1) 
3. 98; (2. 3) 3. 164; Animadv. (4. 45) 3. 219; Eikonocl. (16) 

3. 457; (17) 3. 464; (26) 3. 499, 500 (twice); Divorce (1. 13) 

4. 55; Areopag. 4. 432; Kings & Mag. 4. 500; Hist. Brit. (5) 

5. 213; (6) 5. 278, 283; Civil Power 5. 326; Hirelings 5. 368; 
True Relig. 5. 409; 1 Defens. (4) 6. 82; Decl. Poland 8. 464; 
Moscovia (4) 8. 489; Doct. Christ. (1. 3) 1. 41; (1. 31) 2. 187, 
194; (2.4)2.286; (2.5)2.303; MS. 2.T11. 

Called Salem in Psalms 76. 2. Milton's description of the 
Temple at Jerusalem "appearing like a mount of albaster" was 
perhaps suggested by Josephus, who tells of the white stones of 
the Temple of Herod, the one of the time of Christ. (Antiq. 
15. 11. 3.) He also says that the hill on which it was built 
"was a rocky ascent, that sloped gradually towards the east of 
the city up to its topmost peak." He mentions no "golden 
spires," but does tell of a splendid golden vine running around 
under the cornices," with its clusters hanging down from a great 
height, the size and fine workmanship of which was a surprising 
sight to the spectators to see, such vast materials were there, 
and with such great skill was the workmanship done." Of one 
of the porticoes he writes: " This portico deserves to be men- 
tioned better than any other under the sun. For as the valley 
was very deep, and its bottom could not be seen if you looked 
from above into the depth, the high elevation of the portico stood 
upon that height that if any one looked down from the top 
of the roof to those depths, he would be giddy, while his sight 
could not reach down to such an abyss." (lb. 15. 11. 5.) Milton 
was also familiar with the Biblical description of the Temple of 
Solomon. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 163 

Jew. See Judah. 

Joannis de Luz, Fanum Divi. Lit. Oliv. (59) 7. 308. 
St. Jean de Luz, in the extreme southeast of France. 

Joccatra (Jactura). Lit. Senat. (44) 7. 235; (45) 7. 236. 

Jakatra was a native town on the northwest coast of Java; 
its site is now occupied by Batavia. It is mentioned by Purchas 
in Pilgrimes L 700, etc. 

Jordan. Ps. 114. 9, 14; 1 Prod. Bomb. 8; P. L. 3. 535; 12. 145; 

P. R. 1. 24, 119, 280, 329; 2. 2, 25, 62; 3. 438; 4. 510; MS. 2. 

109. (See also Paneas.) 

The chief river of Palestine, rising in the Anti-Lebanons and 
flowing south into the Dead Sea. Milton's reference to Jordan 
as the ^'double-founted stream" probably depends ultimately 
on Jerome, who writes: '^Dan is one of the fountains of Jordan. 
For the other is called Jor . . . that is brook. Hence, when the 
two springs, which are not distant from one another, unite in 
one stream, it is called Jordan." (On Genesis 14. 14.) This was 
the view held in the time of Milton; see, for example, the map of 
Adrichomius. (P. 100.) The reeds mentioned by Milton in 
P. R. 2. 26 may be accounted for by the words of Jerome on 
Zechariah 11. 3 where he speaks of "arundineta" (thickets of 
reeds) and "carecta" (places covered with sedge) by the Jordan. 
Cf. also the "marish of Jordan." (1 Maccabees 9. 42, 45.) The 
question of Jesus about John the Baptist, who taught by the 
Jordan, is also suggestive: "What went ye out into the wilder- 
ness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?" (Matt. 11. 7.) 
Compare: 

Or whistling reeds, that rutty Jordan laves, 
And with their verdure his white head embraves. 

(Fletcher, Christ's Triumph over Death 2. 4-5.) 

The reference to Jordan as the "true limit eastward" of the 
Holy Land indicates it as the ideal boundary, though the Jews 
occupied land beyond it. Cf. Numbers 34. 10-15 and Deut. 
30. 18. For the "Ford of Jordan" see Bethabara. 

Jougoria. Moscovia (1) 8. 473; (2) 8. 484. 

The name survives as attached to the strait separating the 
island of Vaiguts from the northern shore of Russia. It was 



164 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

applied to the country to the south inhabited by Samoids. 
Merchants from Perchora often went there to trade; see Pil- 
grimes 3. 548, to which Milton refers in a note. 

Judah (Jew, Judea). Nativity 221; P. L. 1. 457; P. R. 2. 

424, 440; 3. 118, 157, 282, 359; Samson 252, 256, 265, 976; 

Reformation (2) 3. 60; Eikonocl. (13) 3. 441; (28) 3. 517; 

Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 13; Civil Power 5. 322, 323; 1 Defens. (3) 

6. 70; Doct. Christ. (1. 31) 2. 193; (2. 3) 2. 271. (See also 

Israel.) 

Judah, now Judea, was the land in southern Palestine, west of 
the Dead Sea, occupied by the tribe of Judah. The word Jew 
means, etymologically, an inhabitant of Judah. 

Judea. See Judah. 

Juga. Moscovia (1) 8. 474. (See also Ustiug.) 

A river of northern Russia, tributary to the Dwina, now called 
Jug. "The river Jug hath his spring in the land of the Tartars 
. . . joining to the countrey of Permia." (Hak. 1. 312.) 

Juliers. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 81. 

Also called Julich, a town in the Rhine Province, Prussia. 
Formerly also a district surrounding the city, between the Meuse 
and the Rhine. 

Justling Rocks. P. L. 2. 1018. (See also Bosporus.) 

The Symplegades, two rocks at the entrance of the Euxine 
into the Bosporus, said to crush vessels between them. Mil- 
ton's adjective "justling" is a translation of the word "Symple- 
gades." Juvenal calls them "concurrentia saxa." (Sai. 15. 19.) 
Apollonius Rhodius writes: " [The Argonauts] came to the strait 
of the winding passage, walled in with beetling crags on either 
side, while an eddying current from below washed up against 
the ship as it went on its way; and on they went in grievous fear, 
and already on their ears the thud of clashing rocks smote un- 
ceasingly, and the dripping rocks roared; in that very hour the 
hero Euphemus clutched the dove in his hand, and went to take 
his stand upon the prow, while they, at the bidding of Tiphys, son 
of Hagnias, rowed with a will, that they might drive right through 
the rocks, trusting in their might. And as they rounded a bend, 
they saw those rocks opening for the last time of all. And their 
spirit melted at the sight; but the hero Euphemus sent forth 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 165 

the dove to dart through on her wings, and they, one and all, 
lifted up their heads to see, and she sped through them, but at 
once the two rocks met again with a clash; and the foam leapt 
up in a seething mass like a cloud, and grimly roared the sea, 
and all around the great firmament bellowed. And the hollow 
caves echoed beneath the rugged rocks as the sea went surging 
in, and high on the clififs was the white spray vomited as the 
billow dashed upon them. Then did the current spin the ship 
round. And the rocks cut off just the tail-feathers of the dove, 
but she darted away unhurt. And loudly the rowers cheered, 
but Tiphys himself shouted to them to row lustily, for once more 
the rocks were opening. Then came trembling on them as they 
rowed, until the wave with its returning wash came and bore the 
ship within the rocks. Thereon most awful fear seized on all, 
for above their head was death with no escape; and now on this 
side and on that lay broad Pontus to their view, when suddenly 
in front up rose a mighty arching wave, like to a steep hill, and 
they bowed down their heads at the sight. For it seemed as if 
it must indeed leap down and whelm the ship entirely. But 
Tiphys was quick to ease her as she laboured to the rowing, and 
the wave rolled with all his force beneath the keel, and lifted up 
the ship herself from underneath, far from the rocks, and high 
on the crest of the billow she was borne. Then did Euphemus 
go amongst the crew, and call to them to lay on to their oars 
with all their might, and they smote the water at his cry. So she 
sprang forward twice as far as any other ship would have yielded 
to rowers, and the oars bent like curved bows as the heroes 
strained. In that instant the vaulted wave was past them, and 
she at once was riding over the furious billow like a roller, 
plunging headlong forward o'er the trough of the sea. But the 
eddying current stayed the ship in the midst of 'the Clashers,' 
and they quaked on either side, and thundered, and the ship- 
timbers throbbed. Then did Athene with her left hand hold 
the stubborn rock apart, while with her right she thrust them 
through upon their course; and the ship shot through the air 
like a winged arrow. Yet the rocks, ceaselessly dashing together, 
crushed off, in passing, the tip of the carved stern." (Argonau- 
tica 2. 549-602.) 

Jutland. Areopag. 4. 398; Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 112; (5) 5. 189. 
The continental part of Denmark. 



166 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Kalouga. See Coluga. 

Kalussia. Decl. Poland 8. 463. 
Kalusz, a town of Galicia, Poland. 

Kalussien. Decl. Poland 8. 466. 

Probably Kaluszin, a village of the government of Warsaw, 
Poland. 

Kamenetz-Podolsk. See Camenick. 

Kanin. See Candinos. 

Kasbin. See Casbeen. 

Kazan. See Cazan. 

Kegor. Moscovia (5) 8. 504. 

Cape Nemitsky. Anthony Jenkinson writes: "From Ward- 
house we sailed Southsoutheast ten leagues, and fell with a Cape 
of land called Kegor, the Northermost part of the lande of 
Lappia" (Lapland). (Hak. 1. 311.) 

Keilah. See Cheila. 

Kempsford. See Kinneresford. 

Kenet. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 200; (6) 5. 247. 

A river of Berkshire, tributary to the Thames at Reading. 

Kent. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 27; (2) 5. 32, 38, 42; (3) 5. 114 (twice), 
116, 117 (thrice), 120 (twice), 128 (twice), 129; (4) 5. 136 
(twice), 141, 146, 147, 153, 155, 156, 162 (twice), 163, 165, 168, 
170, 174, 176, 177, 181 (twice), 182, 185, 187; (5) 5. 191 
(twice), 192 (twice), 194, 197, 198, 207, 210, 215, 218; (6) 
5. 243 (twice), 247, 249 (twice), 260, 269, 272, 282 (twice), 
286. 
The most southeastern county of England. 

Kerdicsford (Chardford, Nazaleod). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 121, 123. 
In speaking of Hampshire Camden says : ' ' On the west bounds 
of the county Avon gently flows; and at its entrance into 
Hampshire is Cerdic's ford, afterwards called Cerdeford, now by 
contraction Chardford, from the brave Saxon Cedric." (1. 115.) 
Henry of Huntingdon (a. d. 508) says that the country "now 
called Cerdichesforde was then named Nazaleoli" from Nazaleod. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 167 

Kerdic Shoar. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 121, 122. 

Now doubtfully identified with Hamble, Hampshire. Camden 
locates it in Norfolk, saying: "The shore being left without 
defence, Cerdic, a warlike Saxon, landed here (whence the place 
is called by the inhabitants Cerdick's sand, and by historians 
Cerdic's shore) and waging a fierce war with the Iceni, set sail 
from hence westward, where he founded the kingdom of the 
West Saxons." (2. 96). Milton seems to be doubtful about it, 
for he calls it "a. certain place," and gives no modern equivalent. 

Kerdics Leage. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 123, 126 (twice). 

Cerdic's ley, an unidentified battle field, apparently in the 
south of Dorsetshire. (Chronicle 527.) 

Kesteven. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 199. 

The most western of the three divisions of Lincolnshire. See 
Drayton, Polyolbion 25. 

Kholmogory. See Colmogro. 

Khotin. See Cotimia. 

Kief. See Kiow. 

Kilwa Kisiwani. See Quiloa. 

Kingston. Eikonocl. (10) 3. 411; Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 221, 230 
(twice); (6) 5. 239. 
A town in Surrey on the Thames. 

Kinneresford. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 183. 

Kempsford in Gloucestershire. 
Kinsalensis. Sixteen Let. 2. 

Of Kinsale, a seaport of County Cork, Ireland. 

Kinwith. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 205. 

An unidentified castle. Milton's knowledge comes, as he indi- 
cates by notes, from Simeon of Durham and from Asser, chap. 54. 

Kiow (Kyovia). Decl. Poland 8. 466; Moscovia (4) 8. 489. 

The city of Kief, in the southeastern part of Russia, on the 
right bank of the Dnieper. 

Kiriathaim. Samson 1081. 

A town east of Jordan, in territory disputed between Moab 
and Reuben. It is described as the abode of the giant Emims in 
Genesis 14. 5. 
12 



168 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Kishon. Ps. 83. 37. 

A river of Palestine rising near Mount Tabor and flowing along 
the Plain of Esdraelon into the Mediterranean. 

Komamo. See Konarnum. 

Konamum. Decl. Poland 8. 463. 

Komarno, a town of Galicia southwest of Lemberg. 

Kulm. See Culma. 

Kyle. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 174. 
The western part of Ayrshire. 

Kyovia. See Kiow. 

Lacedaemon. See Sparta. 

Lachish. See Lachisus. 

Lachisus. 1 Defens. (4) 6. 82. 

Lachish (Vulgate, LacJiis) is a city of southwestern Palestine 
on the borders of Philistia. (2 Kings 14. 19.) 

Ladiscay. Moscovia (1) 8. 476. 

The largest lake in Europe, now called Ladoga, in northwestern 
Russia. Milton's statement that it is longer than Onega comes 
from Hak. 1. 367, where appears also the incorrect statement, 
omitted by Milton, that it is not so broad as Onega. 

Ladon. Arcades 97. 

A river of Arcadia, tributary to the Alpheus. Ovid speaks 
of it as sandy. {Met. 1. 702.) 

Labor. P. L. 11. 391. (See also Agra.) 

Now the capital of the Punjab, India. It was formerly one 
of the capitals of the empire of the Moguls. Purchas writes: 
" Labor is one of the greatest Cities of the East. . . . The castle 
or Towne is inclosed with a strong bricke wall, having thereto 
twelve faire gates, nine by land, and three openings to the River: 
the streets faire and well paved. . . . The buildings are faire 
and high, with bricke and much curiositie of carved windowes 
and doores. . . . Within the Citie on the left hand, you enter 
thorow a strong gate; and a Musket shot further another 
smaller, into a faire great square court, with Atescanna for the 
Kings guard to watch in. On the left hand, thorow another 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 169 

gate you enter into an inner court, where the King keepes his 
Darbar. . . . From hence you go up to a faire stone Jounter or 
small court. . . . On the walles is the Kings Picture sitting 
crosslegged on a chaire of State. . . . From hence passing thorow 
a small entrie to the West, you enter another small Court, where 
is another open Chounter of stone to sit in, covered with rich 
Semaines. From hence you enter into a small Gallery. . . . On 
the wall of this Gallery is drawne the Picture of Acabar sit- 
ting in his State. . . . The Kings lodgings very sumptuous, 
the walles and seelings all overlaid with pure gold; and round 
alongst the sides, about a mans height, some three foote distant 
are placed faire Venice Looking-glasses, three and three each 
above another: and below these alongst the walles, are drawne 
many pictures of this mans Ancestors, as of Acabar his Father." 
{Pilgrimes 1. 432.) 

Lambeth. Animadv. (1. 7) 3. 195; (3. 36) 3. 212; Areopag. 4. 

406; Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 273. 

A district south of the Thames, and opposite Westminster. 
Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishops of Canter- 
bury, is situated there. 

Lampas. Moscovia (1) 8. 472. 

A city of northern Russia on the bank of the River Mezen, 
which empties into the White Sea. The modern representative 
of the city is Semsha. Milton quotes the passage to which he 
refers in his note, Hak. 1. 284. 

Lancashire (Lancaster). Eikonocl. (Pref.) 3. iZZ; Hist. Brit. 
(4) 5. 180, 182. 
A county of northwestern England, bordering on the Irish Sea. 

Landaff. Eikonocl. (28) 3. 521; Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 135. 

Llandaff, a city, the seat of a bishop, in Glamorganshire, 
Wales, on the River Taff. Milton mentions it once in connec- 
tion with the "regest" or "Book of Llandaff," a collection of 
records of the see, perhaps compiled by Geoffrey of Monmouth. 

Land's End. See Bellerus. 

Langho (Whaley). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 182. 

In his description of Lancashire, Camden writes that near 
the Ribble is "Whaley, . . . where duke Wada fought an un- 



170 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

successful battle against Ardulph king of Northumberland at 
Billangho, now called by contraction Langho." (3. 129.) 

Langoemagog (Giant's Leap). Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 13. 

In his description of Plymouth, Devonshire, Camden writes: 
"I shall take the liberty just to mention the fabulous combat of 
Corinoeus with the Giant Gogmagog here. . . . The rock whence 
the Giant is reported to have been hurled is now called the Haw, 
a hill between the town and the sea." (1. 25.) Spenser writes 
as follows: 

He [Brutus] fought great batteils with his salvage fone; 

In which he them defeated evermore, 

And many Giants left on groning flore; 

That well can witnesse yet unto this day 

The westerne Hogh, besprincled with the gore 

Of mightie Goemot, whom in stout fray 

Corineus conquered, and cruelly did slay. 

(F. Q. 2. 10. 10.) 

In the first draft of Lycidas Milton wrote " Corineus " in line 
160, and then altered it to " Bellerus " (g. v.). Cornwall was 
supposed to be named after Corineus. 

Languedoc. Kings & Mag. 4. 477; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 4. 

Part 'of southern France, shown by Mercator as extending 
from the upper waters of the Garonne to the Rhone, and south 
to the Mediterranean. (P. 265.) 

Laodicea. Doct. Christ. (2. 6) 2. 319. 
A city of Asia Minor on the River Lycus. 

Laodun. Epist. Fam. (29) 7. 408. 

Now Loudun, a town of the department of Vienne, France. 

Laopolis. See Leopolis. 

Lapis Tituli. See Stonar. 

Lapland. P. L. 2. 665; Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 127; Moscovia (1) 

8. 471; (5) 8. 504, 505. 

The northern part of Europe, comprising the upper part of the 
Scandinavian peninsula and the adjoining regions of Russia. 
"On the North side of Russia . . . lieth the countrey of Lappia. 
. . . The whole nation is utterly unlearned, having not so much 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 171 

as the use of any Alphabet, or letter among them. For practise 
of witchcraft and sorcerie they passe all nations in the worlde. 
Though for enchanting of ships that saile along their coast, 
(as I have heard it reported) and their giving of winds good to 
their friends, and contrary to other, whom they mean to hurt 
by tying of certaine knots upon a rope (somewhat like to the 
tale of y^olus his windbag) is a very fable, devised (as may seeme) 
by themselves, to terrifie sailors for comming neere their coast." 
(Hak. 1. 492.) 

La Rochelle. See Rochel. 

Lateran. Hirelings 5. 365. 

A palace in Rome connected with the Church of St. John 
Lateran. It was for over a thousand years the residence of the 
popes, and several councils met there. 

Latialis. See Latium. 

Latium (Latialis). 3 Prod. Bomb. 3; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 6; 2 

Defens. 6. 285. 

The part of Italy, on the shore of the Mediterranean, south of 
Etruria and north of Campania. The name is applied by Virgil 
to the kingdom of Evander. 

Latmus. 1 Eng. Let., Masson 1. 324. 

A mountain of Caria, at the head of the Latmic Bay, famous 
because of the story of Endymion, the beloved of Luna. Ovid 
calls Endymion "Latmius heros." {Trist. 2. 299.) Cf. 8 
Prolus. I.^SI. 

Laudian. See Lothian. 

Lausanna. Rami Vita 7. 184. 

Lausanne, capital of the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. 

Lebanon. P. L. 1. 447. (See also Adonis.) 

A lofty range of mountains in Syria, extending parallel with 
the coast of the Mediterranean. They are often mentioned in 
the Bible. 

Lee. Vacat. Ex. 97; Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 209, 210 (twice), 216. 

A small river flowing into the Thames from the north, near 
London. Spenser speaks of it as "the wanton Lee, that oft 



172 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

doth lose his way." (F. Q. 4. 11. 29.) Drayton, depending 
probably on John of Brompton, Sect. 30, and on the Chronicle, 
tells of Alfred's operations against the Danish ships, and speaks 
of the "winding course of Lee's delightful Brook." {Polyolbion 
12 and 16.) 

Leeds (Loydes). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 160. 

Camden, to whom Milton refers in a note, writes in his descrip- 
tion of Yorkshire: "The Are visits Leedes, Saxon Loydes, . . . 
where Oswy king of Northumberland routed Penda." (3. 5.) 

Leghorn. See Liburnum. 

Leicester (Caerleir). Eikonocl. (Pref.) 3. 2>^d>; Hist. Brit. (1) 
5. 16 (twice), 19, 25; (5) 5. 216, 217, 228 (twice). (See also 
Lestershire.) 

In his description of Leicestershire Camden writes: "The 
River Sora . . . washes the north and west sides of the chief 
town of the country, called . . . Leicester. ... I take it to be 
called in Ninnius' Catalogue Caer Lerion." (2. 194.) 

Leida. See Leiden. 

Leiden (Leida, Lugdunum). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 115; Pro Se 
Defens. 6. 341, 377; Respons. 6. 413 (twice), 415, 416, 421; 
Commonplace 54. 
Leyden, Holland, on the Old Rhine. It was for some years 

the residence of Salmasius, who held a position in the university. 

Lemannus. 2 Defens. 6. 289. 

Lake Geneva, the largest lake of Switzerland. 

Lemberg. See Leopolis. 

Lemnos. Eleg. 7. 82; Nat. Non 23; P. L. 1. 746. 

One of the largest islands of the Aegean Sea, about midway 
between Mount Athos and the Hellespont. An account of the 
fall of Hephaestus on Lemnos is given in the Iliad 1. 590 ff. 

Lenbury. See Liganburgh. 

Lennox. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 175. 

" On the other side of the Clyde above Glasgow, Lennox 
extends a great way north among chains of mountains." (Cam- 
den 3. 349.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 173 

Leogecia. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 10. 

Described by Geofifrey as a "certain island, which having been 
of old laid waste by pirates, was inhabited by no one." (1. 11.) 
The words of Milton, "now unknown," are still true. 

Leopolis. Decl. Poland 8. 459, 463. 
Lemberg in Galicia, Poland. 

Lerna. 8 Prolus. 7. 466. 

A marsh of Argolis, the mythological abode of the Hydra. It 
appears in the proverbial expression, " a Lerna of ills." 

Lesbian Shore. See Lesbos. 

Lesbos (Lesbian Shore). Ad Sal. 22; Lycidas 63. (See also 

Hebrus.) 

Lesbos is an island of the yEgean off the coast of Mysia, to 
which the head of Orpheus was said to have been borne by the 
waves, after having floated down the River Hebrus. 

Lestershire. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 257. 

Leicestershire, a county of central England. 

Lethe. Quint. Nov. 132; Idea Platon. 20; Damon. 201; Ad 
Rous. 45; P. L. 2. 583, 604. 
One of the rivers of the underworld. {Mneid 6.) 

Lettow. See Lituania. 

Leyden. See Leiden. 

Libia. See Libya. 

Liburnum. 2 Defens. 6. 288; Lit. Senat. (27) 7. 212; (31) 7. 

219; (34) 7. 222; (37) 7. 225 (twice); Lit. Oliv. (57) 7. 306; 

(66) 7. 316 (twice); (74) 7. 324 (twice); Sixteen Let. 10, 11, 12. 

Leghorn, a seaport of Tuscany, south of the mouth of the 
Arno. Here Milton landed at the end of his journey from 
France to Italy. The city was then under the rule of Florence. 

Libya (Libia, Lybia). Nativity 203; Sonnet 5. 4; Eleg. 4. 26; 

Quint. Nov. 89; P. L. 1. 355; 4. 277; 12. 635; Logic (1. 31) 

7. 97; 4 Prolus. 7. 430. 

Among the ancients Libya was the name for the continent of 
Africa, so far as it was known, excluding Egypt. In the time of 
Milton it was applied to the Sahara. (Mercator, p. 63, map.) 



174 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Milton refers to "Libyan Jove" ("Libyc Hammon") because of 
the famous temple of Jupiter Ammon in the desert west of Egypt. 
He refers also to the desert (cf. Barca, Cyrene), of which Purchas 
writes: "Men may travell eight dayes or more in the Libyan 
Desarts ordinarily, without finding any water. The Desarts 
are of divers shapes, some covered with gravell, others with 
sand; both without water: heere and there is a lake, sometime 
a shrub, or a little grasse. Their water is drawne out of deepe 
pits, and is brackish, and sometimes the sands cover those pits, 
and then the travellers perish for thirst." (Pilgrimage, p. 804.) 
Cf. Chaucer's reference in The House of Fame 488. 

Libyc. See Libya. 

Lichfeild. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 18L 

Lichfield, a cathedral city of Staffordshire, England. 

Liganburgh. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 134. 
Lenbury, Buckinghamshire. 

Ligeris. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 11. 

The Loire, the longest river of France, emptying into the Bay 
of Biscay. 

Limen. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 207. 

Now Lymne Harbor, Kent. Milton follows Chronicle 893. 

Lincoln. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 116; (4) 5. 152; (5) 5. 199, 228; (6) 

5. 283; Commonplace 183. 

A cathedral city of Lincolnshire, standing, as Camden says, 
"on the brow of a hill where the Witham turns east." (2. 228.) 

Lincolnshire. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 113; (5) 5. 199, 203. 

A county of England bounded on the east by the North Sea, 
and on the north by the Humber. 

Lindisfarne (Holy Hand). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 154, 173, 180, 182. 
An island off the coast of Northumberland. Of the foundation 
by Aidan of the abbey there Bede writes thus: "On the arrival 
of the bishop, the king appointed him his episcopal see in the 
island of Lindisfarne, as he desired, which place, as the tide 
ebbs and flows, is twice a day enclosed by the waves of the sea 
like an island; and again, twice, when the beach is left dry, 
becomes contiguous with the land." (3. 3.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 175 

Lindsey. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 152, 163 (twice); (5) 5. 192, 199; (6) 
5. 242, 252, 254 (twice), 294. 
The northern part of Lincolnshire, England. 

Lions. See Lyons. 

Lisbon. See Olissipo. 

Liternum. Pro Se Defens. 6. 333. 

A city of Campania, now called Patria, where Scipio Africanus 
had a villa. 

Lituania (Lettow). Decl. Poland 8. 459 (twice), 461, 466, 467, 
468 (thrice); Moscovia (1) 8. 471; (4) 8. 492, 498. 
Lithuania, a district of western Russia, formerly an indepen- 
dent grand duchy, and later part of Poland. 

Livonia. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 202; Decl. Poland 8. 466; Moscovia 
(1) 8.471; (4) 8.492; (5) 8. 509. 
A district on the Baltic Sea, once an independent kingdom. 

Llandafif. See Landaff. 

Locris. Procancel. 16. 

A district of eastern Greece, extending from the pass of 
Thermopylae to the River Cephissus. 

Loegria. See Logres. 

Lofoden. See Lofoot. 

Lofoot. Moscovia (5) 8. 504, 508. 

A group of islands off the coast of Norway, usually called 
Lofoten or Lofoden. Milton takes his account from Hak. 1. 235. 

Logres (Loegria). P. R. 2. 360; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 13 (twice), 20. 
The name applied by Geoffrey of Monmouth to Britain east 
of the Severn and south of the Humber. (2. 1 ; 4. 19.) 

Loire. See Ligeris. 

Londino-derriensis Portus. See London-Derry. 

London (Augusta, Caerlud, Londinum, Luds Town, The Town, 
Trinovant, Troia Nova). Sonnet 11. 3; Eleg. 1. 73; Ad. Sal. 
9; Church-gov. (1. 1) 3. 101; Apology 3. 266; Eikonocl. (3) 
3. 356; (4) 3. 359, 360 (twice); (5) 3. 370; (6) 3. 377, 378; (9) 



176 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

3.398,407; (10) 3. 411 (thrice) ; (12)3.431; (22)3.485; (26) 

3. 501 ; Colast. 4. 344; Areopag. 4. 433, 437, 438, 441 ; Ormond 

4. 570; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 13 (twice), 16, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26 
(twice), 27; (2) 5. 59, 83, 86, 87 (twice), 88; (3) 5. 117; (4) 5. 142, 
163, 174, 183; (5) 5. 192, 193 (twice), 203, 207, 208, 209, 215; 
(6) 5. 240, 242 (twice), 244, 249 (thrice), 251, 252 (twice), 
253, 256, 257 (twice), 258 (twice), 259 (twice), 261, 263 (twice), 
264, 269 (twice), 271 (thrice), 278, 280, 282, 283 (twice), 285, 
286, 291, 293, 295, 297, 299 (twice), 300; Rupt. Com. 5. 403; 
Easy Way 5. 452; Monk 5. 456; 1 Defens. (5) 6. 99; (6) 6. 
122; (8) 6. 149; (10) 6. 166, 168; (12) 7. 177; 2 Defens. 6. 
260, 300, 303, 315; Pro Se Defens. 6. 355; Grammar (2) 6. 
480 (twice), 487; Lit. Rich. (6) 7. 337 (twice); (10) 7. 341 
(twice); Lit. Oliv. (21) 7. 263 (twice); (25) 7. 267, 268; 
(26) 7. 269; (30) 7. 273; (33) 7. 278, 279; (37) 7. 283; (38) 
7. 285; (43) 7. 290; (59) 7. 308; (66) 7. 316; (78) 7. 329; 
Contra Hisp. 7. 352, 355, 356; Epist. Earn. (5) 7. 374; (6) 
7. 375; (15) 7. 392; (17) 7. 396; Moscovia (1) 8. 474; (5) 8. 
502, 510; Commonplace 183; MS. 2. 114; Sixteen Let. 10, 
11, 13. 

Milton was born in London, and lived most of his life there. 

London-Derry (Derriensis, and Londino-derriensis Portus). 

Ormond 4. 571; Lit. Oliv. (50) 7. 300 (twice). 

A city of north Ireland, originally known as Derry. In 1613, 
when under the control of the Irish Society of London, it was 
incorporated as Londonderry, and became one of the chief 
Protestant cities of northern Ireland. 

Longonis Portus. Lit. Senat. (33) 7. 221 (twice). 

Porto Longone, on the eastern shore of the Isle of Elba. 
Loporovient. Decl. Poland 8. 466. 

An unidentified place, probably a fortress, in Poland. 
Loretto. Areopag. 4. 431. 

A city of the Marches, Italy, where is a famous shrine of the 
Virgin, much resorted to by pilgrims. 

Lorrain (Lotharingia). Commonplace 112, 186. 

Ortelius bounds Lotharingia on the east by Alsace, on the 
south by Burgundy, on the west by Champagne, and on the 
north by the Eorest of Ardennes. 



k 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 177 

Lotharingia. See Lorrain. 

Lothian (Laudlan). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 234; (6) 5. 264. 

The eastern part of the lowlands of Scotland, comprising the 
three counties of Linlithgow, Edinburgh, and Haddington. 

Loudon. See Laodun. 

Louvain. Episcopacy 3. 78. 
A city of Brabant. 

Low Countries. See Netherlands. 

Loydes. See Leeds. 

Luca (Lucomnis Urbs). Damon. Arg,, 128; 2 Defens. 6. 289. 

Lucca, a city of Tuscany on the River Serchio, in the time 
of Milton an independent republic. Milton visited the city, 
which was the home of the ancestors of his friend Charles Diodati. 

Lucca. See Luca. 

Lucerne. See Luserna. 

Lucomnis Urbs. See Luca. 

Lucrine Bay. P. R. 2. 347. 

A lagoon adjoining the gulf of Baiae, Campania. It was 
famous for its oysters and shell-fish. (Horace, Epod. 2. 49; 
Serm. 2. 4. 32; Martial 6. 11. 5, etc.) Probably Milton, like 
Sandys (pp. 215-6) and Evelyn {Diary, Feb. 7, 1645), visited 
the place. 

Ludgate. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 27. 

One of the two western gates of the city of London, described 
by Camden as "lately rebuilt from the ground." (2. 4.) 

Ludlow. Comus 958 (stage direction). 

A village of Shropshire on the Teme, a tributary of the Severn. 
Ludlow Castle is to-day one of the largest and best preserved in 
England. 

Lud's Town. See London. 

Lugdunum. See Leiden. 

Luserna. Sixteen Let. 1. 

A town of the province of Turin, Piedmont, Italy, in Milton's 
day part of the dukedom of Savoy. 



178 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Lusitania. See Portugal. 

Lutetise. See Paris. 

Luz. See Bethel. 

Lybia. See Libia. 

Lycseus. Arcades 98. 

A mountain in Arcadia, a haunt of Pan. (Theocritus 1. 123.) 

Lyceum. P. R. 4. 253. 

A gymnasium east of Athens, famous as the place where 
Aristotle taught. 

Lycia. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 283; 1 Defens. (2) 6. 39. 
A region on the southwest coast of Asia Minor. 

Lydia. Damon. 138; L'AIl. 136; 1 Defens. (2) 6. 30; Epist. 

Fam. (2) 7. 371. 

A country of western Asia Minor, the chief city of which is 
Sardis. 

Lymne. See Limen. 

Lyones. P. R. 2. 360. 

Lyonesse, a legendary country often mentioned in Arthurian 
story. It was thought to have been west of Cornwall, and to 
have been covered by the sea. 

Lyonesse. See Lyones. 

Lyons. Episcopacy 3. 81; Kings & Mag. 4. 477; Hist. Brit. (2) 

5. 76; HireHngs 5. 366. 

A town of France on the River Rhone, the seat of a bishop. 
It was in the twelfth century the centre of the movement of the 
Waldenses or Poor Men of Lyons. 

Lystra. Hirelings 5. 369. 

A city of Lycaonia, Asia Minor. 

Macedonia (iEmathia, Emathia). Sonnet 8. 10; Eleg. 4. 102; 

Procancel. 12; P. R. 3. 32, 290; 4. 271; Notes: Grif. 5. 394; 

Lit. Oliv. (20) 7. 262; 5 Prolus. 7. 437; 6 Prolus. 7. 447. 

That part of Greece north of Thessaly. The portion of Mace- 
donia including Edessa and Pella, west of the River Axius, was 



b 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 179 

called ^mathia, a name applied also to the whole country by- 
poets. (E. g., Ovid, Trist. 3. 5. 39.) 

Macherus. P. R. 2. 22. 

An ancient fortress east of the Dead Sea. Josephus describes 
it as follows: "What was defended by a fort was itself a rocky 
hill, rising to a very great height, which circumstance alone 
made it very difficult to capture it. It was also so contrived by 
nature that it could not be easily approached; for it is intrenched 
by ravines on all sides, so deep that the eye cannot reach their 
bottoms, nor are they easy to cross over, and it is quite impossible, 
to fill them up with earth. For the ravine which hems them in 
on the west extends threescore furlongs, and does not end till 
the lake Asphaltis (and it is on the same side also that Macherus 
has its highest peak elevated above the rest) ; and although the 
ravines that lie on the north and south sides are not so large as 
that just described, yet it is similarly impracticable to think of 
storming them. As for the ravine that lies on the east side, its 
depth is found to be no less than a hundred cubits, and it extends 
as far as a mountain that lies opposite Macherus. . . . When 
Herod came to be king, he thought the place to be worthy of the 
utmost regard, and of being fortified in the strongest manner. 
... He therefore surrounded a large space of ground with walls 
and towers, and built a city there, from which a way led up to 
the very top of the hill. Moreover, he built a wall round the 
top of the hill, and erected towers a hundred and sixty cubits high 
at the angles. And in the middle of this walled area he built a 
magnificent palace, wherein were large and beautiful rooms." 
{Jewish War 7. 6. 1-2.) John the Baptist was executed there. 

Madian. Samson 281. 

Midian (called Madian in Acts 7. 29) was a nomadic Arabian 
tribe. (See Judges 6-8.) Fuller says in part: " It is as difficult 
precisely to define the bounds as impossible completely to de- 
scribe the country of Midian. For besides the mixture and con- 
junction (not to say confusion) of these eastern people, interfering 
amongst themselves in their habitations, the Midianites especially 
led erratical lives, and therefore had uncertain limits. They 
dwelt most in tents, which we may call moving towns and 
extempore cities, set up in a few hours, and in fewer taken down 
and dissolved. Next morning oft-times found them many miles 



180 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

off from the place where last night left them. . . . For the 
general, we dare avouch they had Reuben and Gad on the west, 
Moab oji the south, Ammon on the north, the Ishmaelites or 
Hagarens on the east. Some place them more south, hard by 
the Dead Sea, but therein surely mistake. For when Gideon 
had the Midianites in chase out of the land of Canaan, they 
betook not themselves southward (and surely such foxes when 
hunted would haste home to their own kennels), but ran through 
the tribe of Gad, full east, to their proper habitations." (Pp. 
450-1.) 

Maelstrom. See Malestrand. 
Maenalus. Eleg. 5. 125; Arcades 102; Grammar (1) 6. 438. 

A mountain of Arcadia, sacred to Pan, who is called " Maenalius 
Deus." (Ovid, Fast. 4. 650.) 

Maeonides. P. L. 3. 35. (See also Melesigenes.) 

A Maeonian or Lydian, especially Homer, who was, according 
to some, born at Smyrna in Lydia. Meeonia was a district of 
Lydia, yet its name was often applied to the whole country. 

Maeotis (Tauric Pool). P. L. 9. 78; P. R. 4. 79. (See also 

Pontus.) 

The Sea of Azof, opening into the Black Sea on its north side. 
"Poole Maeotis" is a translation of the Latin palus Mceotis. 
Milton refers to the sea as the "Tauric Pool" because it bounds 
on one side the Tauric Chersonese, the modern Crimea. 

Maes German (Guid-crue). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 106. 

Ussher, in a passage which Milton indicates in a note, writes as 
follows: " In a field of Flintshire, near a town which the English 
call Mold, and the Welch Guid-cruc, this is said to have happened, 
on account of which the place has kept the name of Maes Garmon, 
which means the Field of Germanus. The army was baptized 
by this holy man in the Alyn, a little river which flows near." 
{Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, p. 333.) 

Magellan. P. L. 10. 687. 

The region of the Straits of Magellan, which separate the 
southern extremity of the continent of South America from Tierra 
del Fuego. Voyagers who were there in 1599, in midsummer, 
reported as follows: "The hills on both sides are steep and high, 
all the yeere long covered with store of Snow. . . . On the 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 181 

second of Januarie they made search of Maurice Bay, which 
they observed to extend farre to the East, and to receive store of 
Rivers flowing into it, at the mouthes whereof they found great 
store of Ice in their judgement never melted. For sounding ten 
fkthomes they could not reach the bottome thereof, this their 
Midsummer season notwithstanding." (Pilgrimes 1. 73.) 

Magnesia. Episcopacy 3. 74. 

A city of Ionia on the River Meander. 

Mahanaim. P. L. 11. 214. 

A city of Palestine east of the Jordan and north of the Jabbok. 
Milton's reference is to Genesis 32. 1-2. 

Maidulfsburg, See Malmsbury. 

Mainz. See Ments. 

Malabar. P. L. 9. 1103. (See also Decan, India (East).) 

The Malabar Coast is the western coast of Hindustan, espe- 
cially the southern part. Linschoten writes: "The Malabares 
are those that dwell on the Seacoast, between Goa and the Cape 
de Comorin Southward from Goa." (Pilgrimes 2. 1766.) And 
in his account of the country: "There is a tree in India called 
Arbore de Rays, that is to say, a Tree of Roots; this tree is very 
wonderfuU to behold, for that when it groweth first up like all 
other trees, and spreadeth the branches, then the branches grow 
full of roots, and grow downwards againe towards the Earth, 
where they take root againe, and so are fast againe within 
the ground, and in length of time, the broader the tree is, and 
that the branches do spread themselves, the more rootes doe 
hang upon the branches, and seeme afarre off to be Cordes of 
Hempe, so that in the end the tree covereth a great piece of 
ground, and crosseth one root within the other like a Maze. 
I have scene trees that have contayned at the least some thirty 
or fortie paces in compasse, and all out of the roots which came 
from above one of the branches, and were fast growne and had 
taken root againe within the Earth, and in time waxed so thicke 
that it could not be discerned which was the chief or principall 
trunke or bodie of the tree; and in some places you may creep 
betweene the roots, and the more the tree spreadeth, so much the 
more doe the roots spring out of the same branches, and still 



182 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

grow downe till they come to the Earth, and there take roote 
againe within the ground, and still increase with rootes, that it is 
a wonder. This tree hath no fruit that is worth the eating, but 
a small kind of fruit like Olives, and good for nothing but for 
Birds to eate." Purchas gives a marginal note on the passage as 
follows: "Mordents, a great traveller which had dwelt some 
yeeres at Goa, told Clusius that some of these trees by reason of 
this multiplication contained a miles compasse, and that the 
Indians made galleries and chambers by cutting part away, and 
that it yeelded an eccho, and he had scene sometime 800 or 1000 
shadowed under one, able to receive 3000." {Pilgrimes 2. 1780.) 
Part of Milton's description of the fig-tree also obviously comes, 
directly or indirectly, from Pliny, whose account was much 
copied: "First and foremost, there is a Fig-tree there, which 
beareth very small and slender figges. The propertie of this 
tree is to plant and set itself without mans helpe. For it 
spreadeth out with mightie armes, and the lowest water-boughes 
underneath do bend so downeward to the very earth, that they 
touch it againe, and lie upon it; whereby, within one yeares 
space they will take fast root in the ground, and put foorth a new 
Spring round about the Mother- tree; so as these braunches 
thus growing seeme like a traile or border of arbours most 
curiously and artificially made. Within these bowers the sheep- 
heards use to repose and take up their harbour in Summer time; 
for shadie and coole it is, and besides well fenced all about with a 
set of young trees in manner of a pallaisado. A most pleasant and 
delectable sight, whether a man either come neare, and looke into it, 
or stand afarre off; so faire and pleasant an arbour it is, all greene, 
and framed arch-wise in just compasse. Now the upper boughes 
thereof stand up on high, and beare a goodly tuft and head aloft 
like a little thicke wood or forrest. And the bodie or trunke 
of the Mother is so great, that many of them take up in compasse 
threescore paces; and as for the foresaid shaddow, it covereth 
in ground a quarter of a mile. The leaves of this Tree are very 
broad, made in form of an Amazonian or Turkish Targuet; 
which is the reason that the figges thereof are but small." (12. 5.) 

Maldon. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 47; (5) 5. 216, 217, 218; (6) 5. 241. 
(See also Camalodunum.) 
A town in Essex. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 183 

Malestrand. Moscovia (5) 8. 508. 

The Maelstrom, a famous whirlpool on the coast of Norway. 
Milton takes his account almost verbatim from Hak. 1. 311, to 
which he refers in a note. 

Malmsbury (Maidulfsburg). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 124; (4) 5. 161, 

172; (5) 5. 194, 196, 226 (thrice), 230, 231; (6) 5.255, 293,300. 

A town of Wiltshire near the Avon. At the abbey there lived 

the historian William of Malmesbury, whom Milton thought 

"for stile and judgment" the best of the early English historians. 

Mamre. Doct. Christ. (2. 17) 2. 456. 

A name of all or part of Hebron, a city of Judah. 

Man. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 148; (6) 5. 244. (See also Mevanian 
Islands.) 

An island in the Irish Sea. 

Manchester. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 219. 

A city of Lancashire. 
Mangat. See Nagay. 
Mantua. Logic (1. 22) 7. 73; Commonplace 112. 

A city of Lombardy, on an island in the Mincio, a tributary of 
the Po. It was the home of Virgil. 

Mareotis. Quint. Nov. 171. 

A shallow lake in Egypt, west of the Nile, near Alexandria. 
It probably is used figuratively to mean Egypt. (Cf. "Mareoti- 
caque arva," Ovid, Met. 9. 773.) See Gilbert, The Tower of 
Fame in Milton, Modern Language Notes 28. 30. 

Margiana. P. R. 3. 317. (See also Arachosia.) 

A large district in the western part of central Asia, southeast 
of the Caspian Sea, now called Khorasan. Strabo represents it 
as very productive of grapes. (11. 10. 2.) 

Marleborow (Marlbrigia). 1 Defens. (8) 6. 144; Commonplace 

179. 

Marlborough, a town of Wiltshire on the River Kennet, in 
Camden's time ruined. (1. 94.) 

Marocco. P. L. 1. 584; 11. 404; Animadv. (16. 148) 3. 241. 
(See also Almansor.) 
13 



184 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

A counfy of northwestern Africa, and its capital city. "This 
region is in a manner three square, being a most pleasant country, 
and abounding with many droves and flockes of cattell; it is 
greene every where, and most fertile of all things which serve for 
food, or which delight the senses of smelling or seeing." (Leo 
Africanus, p. 256.) The chief city is described as follows: "This 
noble citie of Maroco in Africa is accounted to be one of the 
greatest cities in the whole world. . . . Here you may behold 
great abundance of temples, of colleges, of bath-stoves, and of 
innes, all framed after the fashion and custom of that region. 
... In this citie . . . was built a Temple by him that was the 
second usurper over the kingdome of Maroco: after whose death 
his nephew Mansor enlarged the said Temple fiftie cubites on 
all sides, and adorned the same with many pillars, which he 
commanded to be brought out of Spain for that purpose. . . . 
Such monuments of antiquity as are yet extant in Maroco, 
albeit they are but few, do notwithstanding sufficiently argue 
what a noble citie it was in the time of Mansor." (/&., p. 262.) 

Marseilles. See Massilia. 

Martigny. See Octodurus. 

Maserfeild. See Oswestre. 

Massicus. Eleg. 6. 31. 

Pertaining to Massicus, a mountain in Campania famous for 
its wine. (Horace, Odes 1. 1. 19; 2. 7. 21., etc.) 

Massilia (Marseilles). Logic (1. 20) 7. 66; Decl. Poland 8. 468. 

Marseilles, a city of France, on the Gulf of Lyons. 
Mauritania. See Bocchus, Realm of. 
Maurusius. See Bocchus, Realm of. 
Maydens, Castle of. See Edinburgh. 

Mazovia. Decl. Poland 8. 466. 

A district in Poland. 
Meander. Comus 232. 

A river of Asia Minor rising in Phrygia and flowing into the 
Icarian Sea near M'letus. It is proverbially famous for its 
winding course. Strabo tells of the rich soil with which it 
fertilizes its plains. (15. 1. 16.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 185 

Meanesborow. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 164. 

Camden, whom Milton indicates as one of his sources here, 
says (1. 120) that the district of the Meanvari, "with the name 
very Httle altered, is at present divided into the three hundreds 
of Meansborow, Eastmean, and Westmean," in Hampshire. 

Mecca. Eikonocl. (10) 3. 413. 

A city of western Arabia, the birthplace of Mahomet. Milton 
refers to the belief that the tomb of Mahomet — really at Medina 
— was suspended in the air at Mecca. Cf. Marlowe: 

By sacred Mahomet, . . . 
Whose glorious body, when he left the world, 
Closde in a coffyn mounted up the air. 
And hung on stately Mecas Temple roofe. 

{2 Tamhurlaine 2462-6.) 

See also the last sentence under Rome. Purchas, in describing 
the tomb of Mahomet at Medina, refutes this belief, saying that 
Mahomet's body is "not in an yron Chest, attracted by Adamant, 
at Mecca, as some affirme." {Pilgrimage, p. 307.) Barthema 
also writes: " Opportunitie now serveth to confute the opinion of 
them which thinke that the Arke or Tombe of wicked Mahumet 
in Mecha to hang in the Ayre, not borne up with any thing. I . . . 
saw the place where Mahumet is buried, in the said Citie of 
Medina." (Pilgrimes 2. 1486.) 

Media. P. L. 4. 171; P. R. 3. 320, 376. (See also Atropatia.) 
Now the northwest part of Persia, south of the Caspian Sea 
and the River Araxes. It was divided into two parts, Media 
Magna and Media Atropatia. Strabo describes Media Magna 
as follows: "It is bounded toward the east by Parthia and the 
mountains of the Cossaei, , . . toward the north by the Cadusii 
who live beyond the Hyrcanian Sea, and by others, . . . toward 
the south by Apolloniatis, . . . toward the east by the Atro- 
patians and certain of the Armenians. The greater part of 
Media is elevated and cold, and such are also the mountains 
situated above Ecbatana, and near the Rhagian and Caspian 
gates and generally the northern places as far as Matiana and 
Armenia. But the ground below the gates of the Caspian, which 
lies low and in a valley, is very fruitful and abounding in every- 
thing except the olive. . . . This region and Armenia excel in 



186 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

raising horses, for which reason a certain plain is called Hippo- 
botus, through which they pass who travel from Persia and 
Babylonia to the gates of the Caspian, in which in the times of the 
Persians, fifty thousand horses were pastured; these were in fact 
the regal droves." (11. 13. 6-7.) 

Medioburgena. See Middle -Burrough. 

Mediolanum. See Millan. 

Mediterranean. P. L. 1. 451; 5. 339; 12. 141, 142, 159; Lit. 

Oliv. (18) 7. 259; (57) 7. 306; Sixteen Let. 11. 

To the Jews it was the "great Western Sea." By "middle 
shore" Milton means Mediterranean shore. 

Medway. Vacat. Ex. 100; Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 259. 

A river of southeastern England, flowing into the Thames at 
Sheerness. It has received much attention from English poets: 
Spenser devotes a canto of The Faerie Queene (4. 11) to the 
description of the marriage of the Medway and the Thames, 
and Drayton speaks of it in the Polyolhion (17 and 18). The fol- 
lowing (? Spenserian) line suggests Milton's "Medway smooth": 

The Medwaies silver streames, that wont so still to slide. 

{The Mourning Muse of Thestylis 157.) 

Melesigenes. P. R. 4. 259. (See also Maeonides.) 

A name applied to Homer because he was said to have been 
born at Smyrna, in Ionia, on the banks of the River Meles. 

Meliboea. P. L. 11. 242. 

A maritime town of Thessaly, now called Kastri, at the foot 
of Mount Ossa. After it was named a purple dye mentioned by 
Virgil: "A cloak with tissue of gold, round the hem of which in 
deep hue ran Melibcean purple with a double wavy edge." 
{Mneid 5. 250-1.) 

Melind. P. L. 11. 399. (See also Mombaza.) 

A town on the coast of British East Africa. Purchas gives the 
following description: "A little beyond [Mombaza] is the King- 
dome of Melinde, which being likewise but a little one, extends 
itselfe upon the Sea Coast. . . . Neere unto the Sea . . . there 
is a great deale of Countrey inhabited by Pagans and Mahome- 
tans, of colour almost white. Their houses are built after our 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 187 

fashion. . . . The Women are white, and sumptuously dressed, 
after the Arabian fashion, with Cloath of Silke. About their 
neckes, and hands, and armes, and feet, they use to wear jewels 
of Gold and Silver. When they go abroad out of their houses^ 
they cover themselves with Taffata, so that they are not known 
but when they list themselves. In this Countrey there is a very 
good Haven, which is a landing place for the Vessels that sayle 
through those Seas. Generally, the people are very kind, true, 
and trustie, and converse with Strangers. They have alwaies 
entertained and welcomed the Portugals, and have reposed great 
confidence in them, neither have they ever offered them any 
wrong in any respect." (Pilgrimes 2. 1024.) MeHnde is promi- 
nent in the Lusiads of Camoens. (2. 57-6. 5.) 

Melros. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 176. 

Old Melrose, near Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland. 

Melun. Commonplace 244. 
A city of France, on the Seine. 

Memphis (Alcairo). Nativity 214; P. L. 1. 307, 694, 718; 

Lit. Oliv. (57) 7. 306. 

The ancient capital of Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile, 
south of Cairo. Diodorus writes: "Uchoreus built Memphis, 
the most famous city of Egypt. For he chose the most conven- 
ient place for it in all the country, where the Nile divides itself 
into several branches, and makes that part of the country called 
Delta. . . . The city being thus conveniently situated at the 
head of the river, commands all the shipping that sail up it. He 
built it in circuit a hundred and fifty furlongs, and made it 
exceeding strong and commodious. . . . This place was so com- 
modiously pitched upon by the builder, that most of the kings 
after him preferred it before Thebes, and removed the court 
thence to this place." (1. 50.) 

At Memphis Osiris, or Apis, was worshiped. The "un- 
showered grass" of Nativity expresses the common opinion of 
Egypt; for example Sandys writes: "The earth then burnt with 
the violent fervour, never refreshed with Rain, (which here falls 
rarely, and then only in the Winter) hath help from Nilus." 
(P. 75.) The fruitfulness of the place is often mentioned; 
Diodorus says: "Here are divers sorts of trees, amongst which 



188 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

those called Persica, whose fruit is of wonderful sweetness. 
The sycamore (or Egyptian fig-tree); some of them bear mul- 
berries, others a fruit like unto figs, and bear all the year long; 
so that a man may satisfy his hunger at any time." (1. 3.) 

The "Monuments of Fame" of the Memphian kings are the 
pyramids. Sandys introduces his account of them with the 
words: "Full West of the City, close upon those Desarts, aloft 
on a rocky level adjoining to the Valley, stand those three 
Pyramides (the barbarous Monuments of prodigality and vain- 
glory) so universally celebrated." (P. 99.) His translation from 
Martial a few pages later also suggests P. L. 1. 692-6: 

Of her Pyramids let Memphis boast 

No more the barbarous wonders of vain cost. 

Though not built on the site of ancient Memphis, Cairo is near, 
and is the successor of the ancient city. Milton identifies it 
with Memphis in his reference to Alcairo (P. L. 1. 718), and in 
his use of the adjective "Memphiticus" to indicate Cairo. {Lit. 
Oliv. (57) 7. 306.) Cairo itself was founded in 970 A.D. On this 
topic Sandys writes: " Here also stood the Fane . . . ofSerapis, 
beset with Sphinxes, adjoining to the Desart, a City great and 
populous, adorned with a world of Antiquities. But why spend 
I time about that that is not, the very mines now almost 
ruinated? Yet some few impressions are left, and divers thrown 
down. Statues of monstrous resemblances, a scarce sufficient 
testimony to shew unto the curious seeker, that there it had 
been. . . . This hath made some erroneously afifirm old Memphis 
to have been the same with New Cairo, new in respect of the 
other." (P. 103.) The Septuagint identifies Memphis with the 
Biblical Noph. (Isaiah 19. 13, etc.) 

Menapia. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 81. 

The country of the Menapii, partly corresponding to the 
modern Belgium. 

Ments. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 170, 176. 

Mainz, a city near the junction of the Rhine and the Main. 

Merantum. See Merton. 

Mercia. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 134; (4) 5. 147, 152 (twice), 160, 161, 
163, 164, 169, 171, 173, 175, 181, 185, 187; (5) 5. 199, 203, 204, 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 189 

207, 215 (thrice), 218, 219 (thrice), 228; (6) 5. 242, 247, 248, 

256, 259, 260, 272, 280. 

The Old English kingdom occupying central England. Cam- 
den includes in Mercia the shires of Gloucester, Hereford, War- 
wick, Worcester, Leicester, Rutland, Northampton, Lincoln, 
Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford, Stafford, Derby, 
Salop, Nottingham, and part of Hertford. (1. cxxx.) 

Mercreds-Burnamsted. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 120. 

Mentioned by Florence of Worcester, to whom Milton refers, 
under the name of Mearcredes-burnan. Its situation is unknown. 

Meresig. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 209 (twice). 

Mersea Island, Essex, at the mouth of the Blackwater. Milton 
takes the name directly from Florence of Worcester or from the 
Chrojiide, without apparent attempt at identification. 

Mereswar. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 192. 

Through a misunderstanding of Chronicle 838 Milton uses this 
name as that of a place, when in reality it means "marshmen," 
that is, the inhabitants of Romney Marsh, Kent. A correct 
explanation is given by Camden. (1. 222.) 

Meriba. Ps. 81. 32. 

Meribah, the place where Moses brought water out of the rock 
for the children of Israel, near Mount Horeb. See Exodus 17.7; 
Numbers 27. 14. Milton's word "steep" suggests the "rock in 
Horeb" of the first passage. 

Meroe. P. R. 4. 71. 

A region in the basin of the Nile, partly surrounded by the 
waters of the Nile, the Blue Nile, and the Atbara; it was sup- 
posed by the ancients to be an island. With Milton's words 
compare Pliny: "In the Hand Meroe, which is the capitall place 
of the ^Ethiopian nation, and is inhabited 5000 stadia from Syene, 
upon the river Nilus, twice in the yeere the shadowes are gone, 
and none at all scene, to wit, when the summer is in the 18 degree 
of Taurus, and in the 14 of Leo." (2. 73.) He gives also the 
report of certain men who in the time of Nero went up the Nile: 
"They made relation of the truth upon their certaine knowledge, 
that it is 874 miles from Syene. . . . They reported moreover, 
that about Meroe (and not before) the grasse and hearbes ap- 



190 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

peared fresh and greene; yea, and the woods shewed somewhat 
in comparison of all the way besides, and that they espied the 
tracts of Elephants and Rhinocerotes where they had gone. 
As for the towne it selfe Meroe, they said it was within the Island 
from the very entrie therof 70 miles. ... As for the building 
within Meroe, there were but few houses in it: that the Isle was 
subject unto a ladie or queene named Candace, a name that for 
many yeeres alreadie went from one queene to another succes- 
sively. Within this towne there is the temple of great holinesse 
and devotion in the honour of Jupiter Hammon: and in all that 
tract many other chappels. Finally, so long as the ^Ethyopians 
swaied the scepter and reigned, this' Island was much renowned 
and very famous. For by report, they were wont to furnish 
the yEthyopian king with armed men 250000, and to maintain 
of Artisanes 400000. Last of all there have been counted 45 
kings of the ^thyopians, and so it is reported at this day." 
(6. 29.) Meroe was the most southern land in Ethiopia known 
to the Romans. Beyond it was, according to Pliny, a region 
of marvels. (6. 30.) 

Meroz. Kings & Mag. 4. 483, 489 (twice). 

Of unknown situation. Fuller writes: " For the exact position 
whereof we refer the reader to those our learned divines, which 
in these unhappy dissensions have made that text (Judges 5. 23) 
so often the subject of their sermons. We have placed it in this 
tribe [Naphtali] not far from Kedesh, whence Barak first went 
forth with his men, in the place where Mercator's maps have a 
city called Meroth." (P. 113.) 

Merton (Merantun). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 178; 1 Defens. (8) 6. 143. 
Camden, to whom Milton refers in a note, says in his account 
of Surrey: "The clear little river Wandle leaves on its west bank 
Merton, situate in a most fruitful spot; and called by the Saxons 
Meredune, antiently famous for the death of Kinulphus king of 
the West Saxons, killed here by Kinehard Clito in the small hut 
of an insignificant harlot." (1. 170.) 

Mertun. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 201. 

Identified sometimes with Merton, Oxfordshire, and some- 
times with Marden, Wiltshire. Milton attempts no identifica- 
tion. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 191 

Mesopotamia. P. R. 3. 254. (See also Euphrates.) 

The region between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, strictly, 
that part of it north of the Median Wall, above Bagdad. 

Messena. 1 Defens. (4) 6. 75. 

Messenia, the southwestern part of the Peloponnesus, bordering 
on the sea. 

Messina, Straits of. P. L. 2. 660. (See also Scylla.) 

The straits separating Calabria from Sicily ("the hoarce 
Trinacrian shore"). 

Meuse. See Mosa. 

Mevanian Islands. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 148. 

Anglesea, or Mona, and the Isle of Man. (Camden 3. 697.) 
Mexico. P. L. 11. 407. 

The city of Mexico, the capital of the country of the same 
name. When it was the seat of "Mutezumas multiforme magni- 
ficence and majestie," Mexico was described by Francis Lopez 
de Gomara as follows: "Mexico at the time when Cortes entered 
was a Citie of sixtie thousand houses. The Kings house, and 
other Noblemens houses were great, large, and beautifull, the 
other were small and meane, without either doores or windowes, 
and although they were small, yet there dwelleth in some of them, 
two, three, yea, and ten persons, by reason whereof the Citie 
was wonderfully replenished with people. This Citie is built 
upon the water, even in the same order as Venice is. . . . Mexico 
hath one place where most dayes in the yeere is buying and 
selling, but every fourth day is the great Market ordinarily. . . . 
This place is wide and large, compassed round with doores, and 
is so great that a hundred thousand persons come thither to 
chop and change, as a Citie most principall in all that Region. 
. . . All the braverie of the Market is the place where gold and 
feathers joyntly wrought is sold, for any thing is in request there 
lively wrought in gold and feathers, and gallant colours. The 
Indians are so expert and perfect in this science, that they will 
worke or make a Butterflie, any wild Beast, Trees, Roses, 
Flowers, Herbs, Roots, or any other thing, so lively, that is a 
thing marvellous to behold. . . . The Art or Science of gold- 
smiths among them is the most curious, and very good workman- 



192 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

ship engraven with tooles made of flint, or in mold. They will 
cast a platter in mold with eight corners, and every corner of 
severall metall, that is to say, the one of gold, and the other of 
silver, without any kind of soldar. They will also cast in mold 
a fish of metall with one scale of silver on his backe, and another 
of gold. They will make a Parret or Popinjay of metall, that 
his tongue will shake, and his head move, and his wings flutter. 
They will cast an Ape in Mold, that both hands and feet shall 
stirre, and hold a spindle in his hand seeming to spin, yea and an 
Apple in his hand, as though he would eat it. Our Spaniards were 
not a little amazed at the sight of these things. For our Gold- 
smiths are not to be compared unto them. They have skill also 
of Amell work, and to set any precious stone. ... All their 
Temples are of one fashion, therefore it shall bee now sufficient 
to speake of the principall church. This Temple is square, and 
doth contayne every way as much ground as a Crossbow can 
reach levell. It is made of stone, with foure doores that abutteth 
upon the three Cawseys, and upon another part of the Citie 
that hath no Cawsey but a faire street. In the middest of this 
Quaderne standeth a mount of earth and stone, square likewise, 
and fiftie fathom long every way, built upward like unto a 
Pyramide of Egypt, saving the top is not sharpe, but plaine and 
flat, and ten fathom square. Upon the West side, were steps 
up to the top, in number an hundreth and fourteene, which 
being so many, high, and made of good stone, did seeme a 
beautifull thing. It was a strange sight to behold the Priests, 
some going up, and some downe, with ceremonies, or with men 
to be sacrificed. Upon the top of this Temple are two great 
Altars, a good space distant the one from the other, and so nigh 
the edge or brim of the wall, that scarsly a man may goe behinde 
them at pleasure. The one Altar standeth on the right hand, 
and the other on the left. They were but of five foot high, each 
of them had the back part made of stone, painted with monstrous 
and foule figures. The Chappell was faire and well wrought of 
Masons worke and timber, every Chappell had three lofts, one 
above another, sustayned upon pillars, and with the height 
thereof it shewed like unto a faire Towre, and beautified the Citie 
afarre off. From thence a man may see all the Citie and Townes 
round about the Lake, which was undoubtedly a goodly pros- 
pect." {Pilgrimes 3. 1131-3.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 193 

Mezen. Moscovia (1) 8. 472. (See also Slobotca.) 

A town of northern Russia, at the head of the estuary by which 
the Mezen River empties into the White Sea. In telling of the 
route from St. Nicholas to the River Pechora, Hakluyt writes: 
"They come at length into the river Mezen, and from thence 
in the space of six dayes to a village of the same name, standing 
in the mouth of the river Pieza." (1. 493.) There are several 
accounts of trade by way of Mezen, e. g., Pilgrimes 3. 537. 

Middle -Angles. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 157. 

The Middle-Angles, or South Mercians, occupied the present 
county of Leicestershire. Camden says Staffordshire. (2. 

375.) 

Middle -Burrough (Medioburgena). Kings & Mag. 4. 495; 2 
Defens 6. 257, 313 (twice); Pro Se Defens. 6. 340, 401; 
Respons. 6. 409 (twice), 410 (twice), 413, 426. 
Middelburg, the ancient capital of Zeeland, Netherlands, 

situated in the island of Walcheren. In the time of Milton it 

was a prosperous commercial city. 

Middlesex. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 118. 

The shire of England in which London is situated. 
Middleton. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 207. 

Identified by Camden with "Midleton now Milton" in Kent. 
(1. 214.) 

Milan. See Millan. 

Mile-End Green. Sonnet 11. 7. 

A district of London about a mile east of the centre of the city. 
In Milton's day it was an open space, and troops were exercised 
there. (Stow 1. 103.) 

Miletus. 2 Defens. 6. 256. 

A city of Caria, famous for its luxury and the wantonness of 
its people. Cf. with Milton's words the "Milesia carmina" of 
Ovid. (Tr. 2. 413.) 

Millan (Mediolanum) . Reformation (2) 3. 63 ; Tetrach. (Canon) 

4. 282; 1 Defens. (4) 6. 89; 2 Defens. 6. 289. 

Milan, in Lombardy. In the time of Milton, who passed 
through on his way home from Italy, it was under Spanish rule. 



194 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

The famous Ambrosian Library had then been founded about 
thirty years. 

Milton. See Middleton. 
Mincius. Lycidas 86. 

Mincio, a river of Lombardy tributary to the Po. Virgil, 
who dwelt on its banks, wrote of it: "Herewith waving [tender] 
rushes Mincius fringes his verdant banks." {Ed. 7. 12-13.) 
And also: "Mighty Mincius wanders on with slowly winding 
curves, fringing the bank with waving [tender] reed." (Georg. 
3. 14-15.) 

Mispa. 1 Defens. (2) 6. 38. 

Mizpah, a place in Palestine near Jerusalem, probably Nebi 
Samwil, four and a half miles northwest. Milton refers to the 
narrative in 1 Samuel 10. 

Mizpah. See Mispa. 

Moab. Ps. 83. 23; P. L. 1. 406; Kings & Mag. 4. 467. . (See 

also Seon's Realme.) 

The country east of the Dead Sea and south of the Arnon. 
At one time it extended so far north as to embrace land on the 
Jordan, which was taken from the Moabites by the Amorites. 

Modena. See Modona. 

Modin. P. R. 3. 170. 

A city of Judea, the exact position of which is not now known. 
It is often mentioned in the books of Maccabees, for it was the 
home of the sons of Mattathias. 

Modona. Animadv. (13. 76) 3. 225. 

Probably a misprint for Modena, a city of Emilia, Italy. 

Mogila. Decl. Poland 8. 468. 

Mogilev, a city of Russia, on the Dnieper. 

Moldavia. Moscovia (4) 8. 491. 
The northeast portion of Rumania. 

Mole. Vacat. Ex. 95; Animadv. (5. 50) 3. 223. 

A river of Surrey, which empties into the Thames opposite 
Hampton Court. Camden writes: "The Mole hastens to the 
Thames, having crossed the whole county from the south, 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 195 

and meeting with obstruction from some hills, opens itself a 
subterraneous passage like a mole, whence it seems to take its 
name. . . . The Mole coming to a hill called from its color White 
Hill, . . . hides itself, or rather is swallowed up at its foot, . . . 
and after about a mile or two bubbles up again near Letherhed 
bridge." (1. 168.) Drayton also tells of this. (Polyolbion 17.) 
And Spenser writes : 

And mole, that like a nousling mole doeth make 
His way still under ground, till Thamis he overtake. 

(F. Q. 4. IL 32.) 

The map of Surrey by John Speed, dated 1610, shows the under- 
ground course of the Mole, marked, "The River runeth under." 

Molgomsay (Mongozey). Moscovia (2) 8. 482, 483. (See also 

Tawze.) 

The part of Siberia bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, 
and on the west by the lower course of the Obi River, and the 
Gulf of Ob. "This Tawze Gorodoc, or Tawze little Castle, with 
the Villages, Townes, and all other places thereto belonging, is by 
all the Russes generally called Mongosey. At this place are two 
Gentlemen or Governours, with three or foure hundred Gunners, 
and small Castles in severall places of these parts of Mongosey. 
Moreover, the men of Mezen . . . told me that in the Winter 
time there went men from Siberia to Mongosey, to buy Sables: 
delivering unto mee, that the Sables taken by the Samoyeds 
about Mongosey are richer in Furres then those that come from 
Siberia." {Pilgrimes 3. 540.) 

Molucca Insulae. Lit. Senat. (45) 7. 236. (See also Amboyna, 
Ternate, Tidore.) 

The Moluccas, or Spice Islands, include the part of the Malay 
Archipelago lying between New Guinea and Celebes. 

Mombaza. P. L. 11. 399. (See also Melind, Quiloa.) 

Mombasa, now the chief town of British East Africa. "Next 
is the Kingdome of Mombaza, in the height of three degrees and 
a halfe towardes the South, which taketh the name from an Hand 
inhabited with Mahometans, which is also called Mombaza, 
where there is is a faire Citie, with houses that have many SoUers, 
furnished Pictures, both graven and painted. The King thereof 



196 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

is a Mahometan, who taking upon him to resist the Portugals, 
received the same successe that hapned to the King of Quiloa, 
so that the Citie was ransacked and spoyled by his enemies, who 
found therein good store of Gold, and Silver, and Pearle, and 
Cloath of Cotton, and of Silke, and of Gold, and such other 
Commodities. This Kingdome lyeth between the borders of 
Quiloa, and Melinde, and is inhabited with Pagans and Mahome- 
tans." {Pilgrimes 2. 1024.) The place is described, and plays 
a part, in the Liisiads of Camoens. (1. 103-2. 69.) 

Mona. See Anglesey. 

Mongozey. See Molgomsay. 

Monmouth. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 6, 22; (2) 5. 82; (3) 5. 104, 109, 

124, 125, 127. 

The chief town of Monmouthshire, mentioned by Milton only 
in connection with GeofTrey of Monmouth. 

Monmouthshire. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 288. 
A county of Wales north of the Severn. 

Montalban. P. L. 1. 583; Pro Se Defens. 6. 383. 

Montauban, a city of France on the River Tarn, a tributary 
of the Garonne. It was a stronghold of Protestantism during 
the latter part of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century. In the Orlando Furioso it is often mentioned 
as the home of Rinaldo {e. g., 30. 93-5). Verity, in his edition of 
P. L., refers to combats described in The Foure Sonnes of Aymon. 
Boiardo tells at length of a battle there between the forces of 
Charlemagne and the Saracens. (Orlando Innamorato 2.23-3.4.) 

Montauban. See Montalban. 

Montgomeryshire. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 208. 
A county in the north central part of Wales. 

1. Morea. Eikonocl. (10) 3. 409. 

The Peloponnesus, the peninsula forming the southern part 
of Greece. 

2. Morea. MS. 2. 108. 

Moriah, an unidentified region mentioned in Genesis 22.2. 
Fuller, conforming to custom, considers it the region around 
Jerusalem. (P. 268.) Cf. 2 Chronicles 3. 1. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 197 

Moreh. P. L. 12. 137. 

The plain of Moreh is the place where the city of Shechem 
afterwards stood, between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. (Genesis 
12. 6.) 

Moriah. See 2. Morea. 

Morine Coast. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 21. 

The Morini were a people of Gaul from whose country the 
passage to Britain was shortest, according to Caesar {Gallic War 
4. 21), to whom Milton refers in a note; hence they lived about 
Boulogne. 

Mosa. Respons. 6. 409. 

The Meuse, a river of northeast France, and of Belgium and 
Holland, reaching the sea after joining the Waal, the left arm 
of the Rhine. 

Mosco. P. L. 11. 395; Moscovia (1) 8. 474 (thrice), 475 (twice), 
476 (twice); (2) 8. 482; (4) 8. 490, 491, 492, 495 (thrice), 498, 
500 (thrice), 501; (5) 8. 504, 506, 508 (twice), 509, 510, 511 
(twice), 512, 515, 516. 

Moscow, the former capital of Russia, in western Russia on the 
River Moskva. Jenkinson, whose excellent narratives Milton 
used in Moscovia, first took the latitude of Moscow. Mercator 
writes in introduction to his new map: "The true observation of 
the latitude of the city of Mosco, made by the foresaid English- 
men, hath yeelded me an infallible rule, for the correcting of the 
situation of the inland countries: which notable helps being 
ministered unto me, I thought it my dutie to exhibite to the world 
this Mappe, more exact and perfect than hitherto it hath bene 
published." (Hak. 1. 513.) Richard Chancellor writes as fol- 
lows: "The Mosco it selfe is great: I take the whole towne to 
bee greater than London with the suburbs: but it is very rude, 
and standeth without all order. Their houses are all of timber 
very dangerous for fire. There is a faire Castle, the walles whereof 
are of bricke, and very high: they say they are eighteene foote 
thicke, but I doe not beleeve it, it doth not so seeme, notwith- 
standing I doe not certainly know it; for no stranger may come 
to viewe it. The one side is ditched, and on the other side 
runneth a river called Moscua, which runneth into Tartaric and 
so into the sea called Mare Caspium: and on the North side 



198 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

there is a base towne, the which hath also a brick wall about it, 
and so it joyneth with the Castle wall. The Emperour lieth in 
the castle, wherein are nine fayre Churches, and therein are 
religious men. Also there is a Metropolitane with divers Bishops. 
I will not stand in description of their buildings nor of the strength 
thereof because we have better in all points in England. They 
be well furnished with ordinance of all sortes. The Emperours 
or Dukes house neither in building nor in the outward shew, nor 
yet within the house is so sumptuous as I have scene. It is very 
lowe built in eight square, much like the olde building of England, 
with small windowes, and so in other poynts." (Hak. 1. 238.) 
Jenkinson's description, which Milton combines with the pre- 
ceding, and to which he refers in a note, is as follows: "The citie 
of Mosco is great, the houses for the most part of wood, and some 
of stone, with windowes of yron, which serve for summer time. 
There are many faire Churches of stone, but more of wood, 
which are made hot in the winter time. The Emperors lodging 
is in a faire and large castle, walled foure square of bricke, high 
and thicke, situated upon a hill, 2 mifes about, and the river on 
the Southwest side of it, and it hath 16 gates in the walles, and 
as many bulwarks. His palace is separated from the rest of the 
Castle by a long wall going north and south, to the river side. 
In his palace are Churches, some of stone and some of wood, with 
round towers fairly gilded. In the Church doores and within 
the Churches are images of gold. . . . The chief markets for all 
things are within the sayd Castle, and for sundry things sundry 
markets, and every science by its selfe. And in the winter there 
is a great market without the Castle, upon the river being frozen." 
(Hak. 1. 313.) Milton's mention of the unpaved streets and 
the latticed windows of the palace is from Hak. 1. 248-9. 
Hakluyt gives a large plan of the city. (1.484.) In a marginal 
note (Moscovia (4) 8. 492) Milton refers to "Horsey's Observa- 
tions" as the source of his reference to the burning of Moscow, 
in the time of "Juan Vasiliwich." The passage in question is as 
follows: "Hee [Juan] countenanced the Rascalitie and the most 
desperate Souldiers against the chiefe Nobility. . . . Many of 
the Nobilitie he put to shamefull deaths and tortures. . . . The 
Crim Tartar his ancient Enemy invaded him, incited by his 
Nobilitie as he found out. . . . Upon Ascention day, the Enemy 
fires the high steeple of Saint Johns Church, at which instant 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 199 

happened a tempestuous wind, whereby all the Churches, Houses, 
Monasteries, and Palaces within the City and Suburbs thirty 
miles compasse, built most of Firre and Oke were set on fire and 
consumed in sixe houres space with infinite thousands of Men, 
Women, and Children burnt and smothered to death by the 
fierie aire; few escaping, without and within the three walled 
Castles. The River and Ditches about Musco were stopped and 
filled with multitudes of people laden with Gold, Silver, Jewels, 
Earings, Chaines, Bracelets, Rings and other Treasure, which 
went for succour to save their heads above water. All which 
notwithstanding, so many thousands were there burnt and 
drowned, that the River could not with all meanes and industry 
that could bee used, bee in two yeeres after cleansed; those 
which were left alive, and many from other places being daily 
occupied within great circuits to search and dragge for Jewels, 
Plate, bags of Gold and Silver. I myself was somewhat the 
better for that fishing. The streets of the City, Churches, 
Sellers and Vaults lay so thicke and full of dead carkasses as no 
man could passe for the noysome smels long after." {Pilgrim- 
age, ed. 1626, p. 975.) 

Moscovia. See Russia. 

Moscua. Moscovia (1) 8. 475 (twice). (See also Mosco.) 

A river of the Volga system which flows through the city of 
Moscow. It formed part of the water route from Moscow to 
the Caspian, given by Jenkinson in Hak. 1. 324. 

Mountain, A. P. R. 3. 252, 253. See Niphates. 

Mozambic. P. L. 4. 161. 

A district of Portuguese East Africa, and its chief town, 
situated on a coral island. We read in Purchas: "Suddenly 
starteth up in sight the Kingdome of Mozambique, situate in 
foureteene degrees and a half e towards the South, and taketh his 
name of three Hands, that lie in the mouth of the River Meghin- 
cate, where there is a great Haven and a safe, and able to receive 
all manner of ships. The Realme is but small, and yet aboundeth 
in all kind of Victuals. It is the common landing place for all 
Vessels that sayle from Portugall, and from India into that 
Countrey. In one of these lies, which is the chiefe and principall, 
called Mozambique, and giveth name to all the rest, as also to 
14 



200 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

the whole Kingdome, and the Haven aforesaid, there is erected 
a Fortresse, guarded with a Garrison of Portugals, whereupon all 
the other Fortresses that are upon the Coast doe depend, and 
from whence they fetch all their provision. All the Armadas 
and Fleetes that sayle from Portugall to the Indies, if they cannot 
finish and performe their Voyage, will goe and Winter, I say, in 
this Hand of Mozambique, and those that travell out of India to 
Europe are constrained of necessitie to touch at Mozambique 
to furnish themselves with Victuals. That Hand when the 
Portugals discovered India, was the first place where they learned 
the language of the Indians, and provided themselves of Pilots to 
direct them in their course. The people of this Kingdome are 
Gentiles. Rusticall and rude they bee, and of colour blacke. 
They goe all naked. They are valiant and strong Archers, and 
cunning fishers with all kind of hookes." {Pilgrimes 2. 1023.) 
The place is mentioned in the Lusiads of Camoens (1. 54-95), as 
the scene of a fight between the Portuguese and the inhabitants. 

Mugalla (Sheromugaly). Moscovia (3) 8. 486 (twice). 

This word probably means the country of the "Mongols, 
or rather, as called in Western Asia, Moghols. " (Yule, Cathay 
3. 147.) Purchas explains Mugalla as Tartaria Orientalis. {Pil- 
grimes 3. 799.) It is called also Sheromugaly. On a map of 1710 
reproduced by Nordenskiold, Grande Mugalie is situated north- 
west of China, and west of Cathay, which is distinguished from 
China. {Periplus, Plate Lix.) The passage to which Milton 
refers in a note is as follows: "From thence to an Ulusses of the 
yellow Mugalls called Mugolchin, wherein is a Dutchesse called 
Manchika, ... it is within two dayes journey of the Land of 
Mugalla, a very dangerous passage through the cliffes of the 
Rockes, which being past they came into the Land of Mugalla. 
. . . The Land of Mugalla is great and large from Bughar to the 
Sea; all the Castles are built with stone foure square: at the 
corners. Towers, the ground or foundation is layd of rough, grey 
stone, and are covered with Tiles, the gates with counterwards 
as our Russe gates are, and upon the gates alarum Bels or Watch- 
bels of twentie poode weight of metall, the Towers are covered 
with glazed Tiles; the houses are built with stone foure cornered 
high, within their Courts they have low Vaults, also of stone, 
the seelings whereof, and of their houses are cunningly painted 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 201 

with all sorts of colours, and very well set forth with flowers for 
shew. In the said Countrey of Mugalla are two Churches of 
Friers, or Lobaes, built of square stone, and stand betweene 
the East and the South ; upon the tops of them are made beasts 
of stone, and within the Church just against the doore are set 
three great Idols or Images, in the forme of women of two and 
a halfe fathome long, gilt all over from the heads to the feet, and 
sit a fathome high from the ground upon beasts made of stone, 
which beasts are painted with all manner of brave colours. . . . 
As for bread in the Land of Mugalla there groweth all manner of 
Graine, as Prosso, or Russe Rice, Wheate, Oats, Barley, and all 
sorts of other Graine in abundance. ... As for fruit in Mugalla 
they have of all sorts, as Apples, Melons, Arbuses, Pompeons, 
Cheries, Lemons, Cucumbers, Onions, Garlicke. . . . They have 
no Horses, only Mules and Asses in abundance." {Pilgrimes 
3. 799.) 

Muscovia. See Russia. 

Mycale. Mansus 22. 

A mountain in Lydia, forming a promontory now called Cape 
Saint Maria. Homer speaks of the "lofty crests of Mycale." 
{Iliad 2. 869.) 

Nagay (Mangat). Moscovia (1) 8. 471, 475. 

The country northeast of the Caspian Sea, as represented, for 
example, on Mercator's map of Tartaria. Jenkinson describes 
as follows his voyage down the Volga from Cazan: "Thus pro- 
ceeding forward ... we passed by a goodly river called Cama, 
which we left on our left hand. This river falleth out of the 
country of Permia into the river of Volga, and is from Cazan 
15 leagues: . . . and all the land on the left hand of the said 
Volga from the said river unto Astracan, and so following the 
North and Northeast side of the Caspian sea, to a land of the 
Tartars called Turkemen, is called the countrey of Mangat or 
Nagay, whose inhabitants are of the law of Mahomet. . . , 
The Nagayans when they flourished lived in this maner: they 
were divided into divers companies called Hords, and every 
Hord had a ruler, whom they obeyed as their king, and was 
called a Murse. Towne or house they had none, but lived in the 
open fields, every Murse or King having his Hords or people 



202 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

about him, with their wives, children and cattell, who having 
consumed the pasture in one place, remooved unto another. . . . 
They deHght in no art or science, except the warres, wherein 
they are expert, but for the most part they be pasturing people, 
and have great store of cattel, which is all their riches. . . . All 
the countrey upon our right hand the river Volga, from over 
against the river Cama unto the towne of Astracan, is the land 
of Crimme, whose inhabitants be also of the lawe of Mahomet, 
and live for the most part according to the fashions of the 
Nagayes, having continual war with the Emperour of Russia, 
and are valiant in the fielde, having countenance, and support 
from the great Turke." (Hak. 1. 325.) Cf. P. L. 10. 431. 

Naisus. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 84. 

Nish, a city of Serbia on the Nishva River. 
Namancos. Lycidas 162. (See also Bayona, Guarded Mount.) 

A district in Galicia, Spain, one of the archpresbyteries into 
which the archbishopric of Santiago de Compostella is divided. 
It is the most western part of the country, terminating in Cape 
Finisterre. For a discussion of the place see Albert S. Cook, in 
The Modern Language Review 2. 124. To the many references 
given there to various editions of Ortelius, Mercator, and others, 
may be added one to the map of Gallaecia in Mercator 's Atlas 
of 1628 (p. 218), where 'Namancos T.' (i. e., Tierra) is prom- 
inently marked. Milton imagines the angel on St. Michael's 
Mount to look toward the south, in which direction there is no 
land between the Mount and Spain. Masson in his note refers 
to a passage in Drayton : 

Then Cornwall creepeth out into the westerne maine, 
As (lying in her eye) shee poynteth still at Spain. 

{Polyolbion 23.) 

The "Narrow Seas," where the English claimed sovereignty, and 
exacted salutes from foreign vessels, extended, some say, south 
as far as Cape Finisterre. 

Nantes. Tetrach. (Fathers) 4. 266. 
A city of France, on the River Loire. 

Naples (Neapolis). 3 Leonor. 1; Mansus, Arg. ; Reformation 
(2) 3. 39; Church-gov. (2. 1) 3. 152; Kings & Mag. 4. 487; 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 203 

2 Defens. 6. 288; Grammar (1) 6.440 (thrice); Lit. Oliv. (74) 

7. 325, 326. (See also Parthenope.) 

In the time of Milton, Naples and the surrounding country 
were under the rule of Spain, and governed by a Spanish viceroy. 
Milton tells almost nothing of his visit to Naples, in 1638, 
except the courtesy shown him by Manso, the friend of Tasso 
and Marini, to whom he addressed the poem entitled Mansus. 
Manso conducted him about the city, took him to the palace 
of the viceroy, and visited him at his inn. Masson quotes the 
following description of Naples written by Manso : "On the right 
are the shores and rocks glorious by the sepulture of Virgil and 
Sannazaro, by the grotto of LucuUus, the villa of Cicero, the 
still and the bubbling waters of Cumse, and the fires of Pozzuoli, 
all protected by the mountains of Baiae, the promontory of 
Miletus, and the island of Ischia, dear no less for the fable of 
Typhoeus than for its own fertility; on the left are the shores no 
less famous by the tomb of Parthenope, by Arethusa's subter- 
ranean streams, by the gardens of Pompeii, by the fresh-running 
streams of Sebeto, and by the smoke of burning Vesuvius, all 
equally shut in by the mountains of Gaurus, the promontory 
of Minerva, and the isle of Capri, where Tiberius hid at once 
his luxury and his vices." {Life of Milton 1. 814.) Part of the 
description of Sandys is as follows: "Her beauty is inferior unto 
neither. The private Buildings being graceful, and the publick 
stately; adorned with Statues, the work of excellent Workmen; 
and sundry preserved Antiquities. . . . Naples is the pleasantest 
of Cities, if not the most beautiful, the buildings all of free-stone, 
the streets are broad and paved w'th Brick, vaulted underneath 
for the conveyance of the sullage, and served with water by 
Fountains and Condu'ts. Her Palaces are fair; but her Temples 
stately, and gorgeously furnished ; whereof adding chappels and 
Monasteries within her Walls and without, (for the Suburbs do 
equal the City in Magnitude) she containeth three thousand. 
It is supposed that there are in her three hundred thousand men, 
besides women and children." (Pp. 198-202.) Evelyn visited 
Naples about six years after Milton; part of his description 
follows: "First we went to the Castle of St. Elmo, built on a 
very high rock, whence we had an intire prospect of the whole 
Citty, which lyes in shape of a theatre upon the sea brinke. . . . 
This Fort is the bridle of the whole Citty, and was well stor'd 



204 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

and garrison'd with native Spanyards. The strangenesse of the 
precipice and rarenesse of the prospect of so many magnificent 
and stately Palaces, Churches, and Monasteries, with the 
Arsenall, the Mole, and Mount Vesuvius in the distance, all in 
full com'and of the eye, make it one of the richest landskips in 
the world. . . . Then we went to the very noble Palace of the 
Viceroy, partly old and part of a newer work, but we did not 
stay long here. Towards the evening we tooke the ayre upon the 
Mole, which is a streete on the rampart or banke rays'd in the 
Sea for security of their gallys in port, built as that of Genoa. 
Here I observed a rich fountaine in the middle of the Piazza, 
and adorn'd with divers rare statues of copper representing 
the Sirens or Deities of the Parthenope, spouting large streames 
of water into an ample shell, all of cast metall, and of great cost; 
this stands at the entrance of the Mole, where we mett many of 
the Nobility both on horseback and in their coaches to take the 
fresco from the Sea, as the manner is, it being in the most advan- 
tageous quarter for good ayre, delight, and prospect. Here 
we saw divers goodly horses who handsomly became their riders, 
the Neapolitan gentlemen. This Mole is about 500 paces in 
length, and paved with a square hewn stone. . . . Courtisans 
. . . swarm in this Citty to the number, as we are told, of 
30,000, registred and paying a tax to the State. . . . Indeed the 
towne is so pester'd with these cattell, that there needes no small 
mortification to preserve from their enchantment, whilst they 
display all their naturall and artificiall beauty, play, sing, feigne 
compliment, and by a thousand studied devices seeke to inveigle 
foolish young men." (Diary, Jan. 31-Feb. 6, 1645.) Evelyn's 
whole account of the city and its surroundings should be read. 

Naramzie, Sea of. Moscovia (3) 8. 485. 

The name does not appear on modern maps. It is equivalent 
to Kara Sea, the body of water south and southeast of Nova 
Zembla, into which the point of Naramzy projects. 

Naramzy, Point of. Moscovia (1) 8. 473. 

The northern extremity of Janmal Land, or the Samoyed 
Peninsula. The first passage to which Milton refers describes 
the coast as far as Naramzy (Pilgrimes 3. 545), and the second 
tells of the "great store of Morsses about the point of Naramzei," 
and how the Russians went by river and portage to the Obi, to 
avoid the point. (lb. 3. 551.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 205 

Narim. Moscovia (2) 8. 483 (twice) ; (3) 8. 484. 

The modern Narym, a city of western Siberia on the eastern 
bank of the Obi River. "Beyond Obi are Narim, Tooma, and 
divers other Cities." (Pilgrimes 3. 527.) 

Narulum. Decl. Poland 8. 463. 

An unidentified town in Galicia, probably near Niemicrovia 
(q- v.). 
Narv. Moscovia (1) 8. 476; (5) 8. 509. 

Narv, or Narva, is a town of Russia on the River Narva, 
eighty-six miles southwest of St. Petersburg. Milton draws 
his information from Hak. 1. 466. 

Narym. See Narim. 

Naseby. Eikonocl. (21) 3. 481. 

A village twelve miles north of Northampton, England, where, 
on June 14, 1645, the Parliamentary army under Fairfax and 
Cromwell defeated the forces of Charles I. 

Nazaleod. See Kerdicsford. 

Nazareth. P. R. 1. 23; 2. 79. 
A town of Galilee. 

Neapolis. See Naples. 

Nebo. P. L. 1. 407. (See also Abarim.) 

A projecting headland of the plateau of Moab east of the 
north end of the Dead Sea. From the west it appears like a 
mountain. In the Bible Nebo is described as "in the land of 
Moab, that is over against Jericho," and as near the plains of 
Moab. (Deuteronomy 32. 49; 34. 1.) Milton's words, "from 
Aroer to Nebo," suggest 1 Chronicles 5. 8: "Who dwelt in Aroer 
even unto Nebo." 

Negus, Empire of (Abassin). P. L. 4. 280; 11. 397. (See also 

Amara, Ethiop.) 

The modern Abyssinia, a highland country of eastern Africa, 
containing the source of the Blue Nile; its territory was part of 
ancient Ethiopia. Ortelius begins his account of Abyssinia as 
follows: "He whom the Europeans call Prester John is called 
... by his Abyssinian subjects . . . Negus, that is, Emperor 
and King." (P. 107.) Purchas, on the authority of Ortelius, 



206 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

says: "The Abissine Empire is by our late writers intended 
further, receiving for the Southern Hmits the Mountains of the 
Moone; and for the Westerne, the Kingdome of Congo, the 
River Niger and Nubia." {Pilgrimage, p. 824.) 

Nemitsky. See Kegor. 

Neocaesarea. Tetrach. (Fathers) 4. 265. 

A city of Pontus, Asia Minor, where a great council of the 
Church was held in the year 315. 

Neoportus. Lit. Senat. (9) 7. 195. 
Nieuwpoort, on the Yser, in Belgium. 

Netherlands (Belgia, Belgium, Low Countries). Eleg. 3. 12; 
Animadv. (13. 127) 3. 239; Kings & Mag. 4. 476, 487 (twice); 
Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 37 (twice), 81, 82, 90; (3) 5. Ill; Easy Way 
5. 452; 2 Defens. 6. 258, 316; Pro Se Defens. 6. 395 (twice), 
396 (twice); Respons. 6. 413 (twice), 418, 419, 423; Lit. 
Senat. (2) 7. 189; (27) 7. 212, 213 (twice); (30) 7. 219; (31) 
7. 219; (44) 7. 234; Lit. Oliv. (-1) 7. 238; (32) 7. 278; (36) 
7. 282 (twice); (44) 7. 292; (63) 7. 313; (74) 7. 325; Contra 
Hisp. 7. 367; Moscovia (5) 8. 515; Safe-cond. (twice); Com- 
monplace 112. 

The Low Countries, on the shore of the North Sea, now the 
Netherlands (Holland) and Belgium, were in Milton's time 
taken together as Belgium (e. g., Mercator, p. 357) or the Nether- 
lands. 

Neva. Decl. Poland 8. 466. 

An unidentified place, probably a fortress, in Poland. 

Newburgh. See Niwanbirig. 

Newcastle. Eikonocl. (10) 3. 410; Kings & Mag. 4. 482. 

A city of Northumberland on the River Tyne. 
Newenden. See Andredchester. 

New England (Nova Anglia). Animadv. (1. 2) 3. 189; (3. 37) 

3. 213; Contra Hisp. 7. 359. 

The northeast section of the United States. When the 
Animadversions were written, there were settlements in the 
present states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. 
As a Puritan, Milton regarded the settlers there as his "poore 
expulsed Brethren." 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 207 

New Haven (Franciscopolis). Commonplace 245. 

A seaport in Sussex, on the English Channel at the mouth of 
the Ouse. 

Newmarket. Hirelings 4. 558. 

A town on the borders of Sufifolk and Cambridgeshire. 
Newport. Kings & Mag. 4. 483. (See also Neoportus.) 

A town in the Isle of Wight, according to Camden "the 
principal sea-port in the island." (1. 123.) 

Nicaea. 2 Defens. 6. 287. 

Nice, a city of southern France, on the Mediterranean Sea. 
It has been for centuries a commercial city and point of departure 
for Italy. When Milton passed through it on his journey to 
Italy in 1638, it was under the rule of the Duke of Savoy. 

Nice. See Nicaea. 

Nicea. Reformation (1) 3. 15, 27. 

A town of Bithynia, Asia Minor, where the first general 
council of the Church met in 325. 

Niemicrovia. Decl. Poland 8. 463. 

Niemirow, a town of Galicia, northwest of Lemberg. 

Niger. P. L. 11. 402. 

A river of western Africa, emptying into the Gulf of Guinea, 
The general direction of its course is at first east and then south. 
In the time of Milton, and for a hundred and fifty years after, 
it was little known, and was confused with the Senegal. Mer- 
cator (p. 622) represents the Niger as rising in central Africa 
and flowing westward into the Atlantic. Leo Africanus writes as 
follows: "The fourth part of Africa is called the land of Negros. 
. . . The north part thereof is inclosed with the desert of Libya, 
and the south part, which is unknowen unto us, with the Ocean sea. 
This land of Negros hath a mightie river, which taking his name 
of the region is aalled Niger: this river taketh his originall from 
the east out of a certaine desert called by the foresaide Negros 
Sen. Others will have this river to spring out of a certaine lake, 
and so to run westward till it exonerateth itselfe into the Ocean 
sea. Our Cosmographers afifirme that the said river of Niger is 
derived out of Nilus, which they imagine for some certaine spac 



208 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

to be swallowed up of the earth, and yet at last to burst foorth 
into such a lake as is before mentioned. Some others are. of 
opinion that this river beginneth westward to spring out of a 
certaine mountaine, and so running east, to make at length a 
huge lake: which verily is not like to be true; for they usually 
saile westward from Tombuto to the kingdome of Guinea, yea 
and to the land of Melli also; both which in respect of Tombuto 
are situate to the west: neither hath the said land of Negros any 
kingdomes comparable, for beautiful and pleasant so'le, unto 
those which adjone unto the banks of Niger." (P. 124.) 

Nijni-Novogorod. See Nysnovogorod. 

Nile (Nilus). Nativity 211; P. L. 1. 343, 413; 4. 283; 12. 157; 
P. R. 4. 71; Eng. Let., Masson 1. 324. (See also Negus.) 
The importance of the Nile in Egypt was well known to the 
ancients; its seven mouths have been celebrated for ages {e. g., 
in ^neid 6. 800). Fuller writes : "Nilus venteth itself into the 
Mediterranean Sea with seven mouths, nothing being more 
famous in human poetry and prose than this septemfluous 
river." (P. 506.) Milton's placing of the Abyssinian Mount 
Amara {q. v.) "by Nilus head" reminds us that only within 
the last century has the geography of the Nile become known. 
Knowledge of it in the time of Milton is represented by the 
following from Purchas: "There are many fish in Nilus in the 
end of the Province of Goyama [in Abyssinia], where is a 
bottomless Lake . . . whence continually springs abundance of 
water, being the head of that River, little at the first, and after a 
daies journey and a halfe running to the East, and then entreth 
a Lake supposed the greatest in the world, passing swiftly through 
the midst thereof without mixture of waters, and casting it 
selfe over high Rockes, takes freer scope, but presently is 
swallowed of the earth, so that in some places it may be stepped 
over. After live dayes journey towards the East, it windes 
itselfe againe to the West, and so passeth on his way towards 
Egypt." {Pilgrimage, p. 852.) The stream here described is 
apparently the Blue Nile. The map-makers of the time {e. g., 
Mercator, p. 623) represent the Nile as rising not in Abyssinia, 
but in lakes far to the south, much farther than those in which 
the Nile is now known to rise. Purchas writes of this belief: 
"Let us take view of the more inland and Easterly borders. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 209 

which abutte on Congo: where we shall find ... a Lake, 
called Zembre, great Mother, and chief Ladie of the Waters in 
Africa. . . . There is indeed another Lake, which Nilus maketh 
in his course, but standeth Northwest from the first Lake 
Zembre. . . , Neyther doth Nilus (as some afitirme) hide it selfe 
under the ground, and after ryse againe, but runneth through 
rnonstrous and Desart Valleyes, without any settled channel, 
and where no people inhabited, from whence that fabulous 
opinion did grow. This Lake is situate in twelve degrees of 
Southerly Latitude, and is compassed about like a Vault with 
exceeding high Mountaines. . . . The River Nilus runneth north- 
wards many hundred myles, and then entreth into another great 
Lake, which the Inhabitants doe call a Sea. It is much bigger 
than the first, and contayneth in breadth two hundred and 
twentie myles, right under the Equinoctiall Lyne. . . . This 
seemeth to be in Goiame, where the Abassine entitleth himselfe 
King, and in his title . . . calls it the Fountaine of Nilus, which 
Alvares also mentioneth." (Pilgrimage, p. 878.) 

Ninevee (Ninos). Eleg. L 66; P. R. 3. 275. 

Nineveh, an Assyrian city whose ruins are near Mosul, on the 
banks of the Tigris. Diodorus writes as follows : [Ninus] "having 
got a great number of his forces together, and provided money 
and treasure, and other things necessary for the purpose, built 
a city near the Euphrates, very famous for its walls and fortifica- 
tions; of a long form; for on both sides it ran out in length 
above an hundred and fifty furlongs; but the two lesser angles 
were only ninety furlongs apiece; so that the circumference of 
the whole was four hundred and fourscore furlongs. And the 
founder was not herein deceived, for none ever after built the like, 
either as to the largeness of its circumference, or the stateliness 
of its walls. For the wall was an hundred feet in height, and 
so broad as three chariots might be driven together upon it 
abreast: there were fifteen hundred turrets upon the walls, 
each of them two hundred feet high. He appointed the city 
to be inhabited chiefly by the richest Assyrians, and gave liberty 
to people of any other nation (to as many as would) to dwell 
there, and allowed to the citizens a large territory next adjoining 
to them, and called the city after his own name Ninus, or Nine- 
veh." (2. 3.) Diodorus then proceeds to describe the splendors 



210 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

of this "first golden Monarchy." Milton's phrase, "of length 
within her wall several days journey," suggests Jonah 3. 3: 
"Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' 
journey." The reference to Salmanassar is founded on 2 Kings 
17. 3-6, 18. 9-11, where is given the account of the captivity of 
Israel, also mentioned in 2 Esdras 13. 40, and, with a reference 
to Nineveh, in Tobit 1. 

Ninos. See Ninevee. 

Niphates (Assyrian Mount, Specular Mount). P. L. 3. Arg., 742 ; 

4. 126, 569; 11. 381; P. R. 3. 252, 253, 265; 4. 26, 236. (See 

also Taurus.) 

A mountain range of western Asia, part of the Taurus range, 
thus described by Strabo: "To the south across the Euphrates, 
running east from Cappadocia and Commagena, the mountains 
which separate Sophena and the rest of Armenia from Mesopo- 
tamia are called Taurus, and by some Gordyaeus. Among these 
mountains is Masium, a mountain above Nisibis and Tigrano- 
certa. Then the range rises higher arid is called Niphates; here 
are the springs of Tigris on the southern part of the mountain. 
Then the ridge of the mountain extending farther and farther 
from Niphates makes Mount Zagrius, which separates Media 
from Babylonia." (11. 12. 4.) 

The mount of the vision of Jesus in Paradise Regained is 
Niphates or some adjoining part of Taurus. (See Euphrates.) 
It was well chosen for a wide prospect, because Ararat, the 
exceedingly high mountain on which the Ark rested, was sup- 
posed to be in this region. In the Latin Bible of Tremellius and 
Junius the note on Genesis 8. 4 identifies Ararat with Gordyaeus. 

Nish. See Naisus. 
Nisibis. P. R. 3. 291. 

A city of northwestern Mesopotamia, still surviving under the 
name of Nisibin. Pliny locates it in Adiabene, distant from 
Artaxata seven hundred and fifty miles. (6. 13.) Plutarch 
writes that Lucullus "crossing Taurus by another road, came 
into the fruitful and sunny country of Mygdonia, where was a 
great and populous city, by the barbarians called Nisibis, by 
the Greeks Antioch of Mygdonia." (3. 270.) The city was 
important in the wars of the Romans and Parthians. (Tacitus, 
Annals 15. 5.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 211 

Niwanbirig. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 175. 

The name is from Simeon of Durham, Sect. 42, The place is 
probably Newburgh on the Tay. 

Norfolk. Reformation (1) 3. 7; Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 246. 

A county on the east coast of England, part of the old kingdom 
of East Anglia. 

Noriberga. Rami Vita 7. 184. 

Niirnberg, a city of Bavaria, on the River Pegnitz. 
Norica. Commonplace 189. 

A town in Perugia, Italy, in the time of Milton under the rule 
of the popes. 

Noricum. See Bavaria. 

Normandy. Reformation (2) 3.41; Tetrach. (Canon) 4.274; 
Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 211; (6) 5. 244 (twice), 245, 253 (twice), 267, 
269 (twice), 270, 273 (twice), 274 (twice), 281 (twice), 284, 289, 
290 (twice), 292, 297; Commonplace 179, 191. 
A dukedom of ancient France, on the English Channel. 

Norman lies. Divorce (Pref.) 4. 11. 

Usually called the Channel Islands, a group belonging to 

England off the coast of Normandy. 

North. See Scotland. 

Northampton. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 216, 217, 228; (6) 5. 250, 266 

(twice), 268, 288. 

A town of Northamptonshire. 
Northamptonshire. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 217; (6) 5. 250. 

A county of central England. 
Northern Ocean. See Cronian Sea. 
North Sea. Mansus 33. 

The "Oceanus" of this line is the North Sea. 

Northumberland (Northumbria). Reformation (1) 3. 7, 8; (2) 
3. 61; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 21; (3) 5. 114, 128, 129, 135; (4) 5. 
137, 152, 153, 154, 162, 163, 167, 169, 170, 171, 173 (twice), 
174, 176, 177, 178, 180, 181, 182, 185; (5) 5. 192, 195, 204, 207, 
208, 209, 210, 215, 221, 223, 228, 230 (twice); (6) 5. 255, 257 
(thrice), 264, 272, 284, 287, 296; MS. 2. 113 (twice); Common- 
place 72, 181. 



212 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

The extreme northeast county of England. The Saxon king- 
dom was of greater extent; Camden assigns to it the following 
counties: Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham, Cumberland, West- 
moreland, Northumberland, and the parts of Scotland to the 
Frith of Edinburgh. 

North Wales. See Wales. 
Norumbega. P. L. 10. 696. 

According to the Atlas of Blaeu (pp. 21, 36, maps) Norumbega 
is the land in the region of the River Penobscot, Maine. His map 
of America gives it a somewhat wider extent. The name 
usually appears on the maps of the period. The fabulous or 
semifabulous town of Norumbega is of uncertain situation, and 
various sites, from the Hudson to the Penobscot, have been 
proposed. The name has been revived in Norumbega Park, on 
the Charles River, and Norumbega Cottage, at Wellesley College. 
For recent study of the subject see the references in the Encyclo- 
pedia Americana, especially that to John Fiske, The Dutch and 
Quaker Colonies in America, pp. 69 ff.' Purchas writes: "More- 
over, towards the North (sayth the Authour, after hee had 
spoken of Virginia) is Norombega, which is knowne well enough, 
by reason of a faire Towne, and a great River. ... At the 
mouth of this River there is an Hand very fit for fishing. The 
region that goeth along the Sea doth abound in fish, and towards 
New France there is great number of wilde beasts, and is very 
commodious for hunting; the inhabitants doe live in the same 
manner as they of New France. If this beautifull Towne hath 
ever been in nature, I would faine knowe who hath pulled it 
downe: for there is but Cabines heere and there made with 
pearkes, and covered with barkes of trees, or with skinnes, and 
both the River and the place inhabited is called Pemptegoet." 
{Pilgrimes 4. 1625.) Heylyn deals with it as follows: "Norum- 
bega hath on the North-east Nova Scotia, on the South West 
Virginia. The air is of a good temper, the soil fruitful, and the 
people indifferently civil; all of them, as well men as women, 
painting their faces. The men are much affected to hunting; 
and therefore never give their daughters to any, unless he be well 
skilled in that game also. The Women are here very chast, 
and so well love their husbands that if at any time they chance 
to be slain, the widows will neither marry nor eat flesh, till that 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 213 

the death of their husbands be revenged. They both dance 
much; and for more nimbleness, sometimes stark naked. The 
Sea upon the coasts so shallow and so full of sands, that it is 
very ill sailing all along these shores. The towns, or habitations 
rather, so differently called by the French, Portugals, and Span- 
iard, that there is not much certainty known of them. Yet most 
have formerly agreed upon Norumbegua, or Arampec, as the 
Natives call it; said to be a large, populous, and well-built town, 
and to be situate on a fair and capacious River of the same name 
also. But later Observations tell us there is no such matter; 
that the River which the first relations did intend, is called 
Pemptegonet, neither large nor pleasant; and that the place 
by them meant is called Agguncia, so far from being a fair City, 
that there are only a few Sheds or Cabins covered with the 
barks of trees or the skins of beasts. Howsoever I have let it 
stand on the first reports, it being possible enough that the 
Town might fall into decay, deserted on the coming of so many 
several Pretenders; and that the Sheds or Cabins which the 
last men speak of may be the only remainders of it." {Cos- 
mography 4. 107.) 

Norway (Norwegia). P. L. 1. 203, 293; Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 280 
Areopag. 4. 398; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 21 ; (3)5.127; (5) 5.227,234 
(6) 5. 240, 242, 255, 265 (twice), 266, 276 (twice), 287, 295 
Lit. Senat. (30) 7. 218 (twice), 219 (thrice); Safe-cond. (thrice). 
In the time of Milton Norway was politically united with 
Denmark. One of the chief products of the country has for 
centuries been timber for shipbuilding. (P. L. 1. 293.) Milton's 
assignment of Leviathan to the coast of Norway is probably 
sufficiently explained by the following: "About Zeinam they 
saw many Whales very monstrous hard by thir Ships; whereof 
some by estimation sixty feet long; they roard hideously, it 
being then the time of thir engendring." {Moscovia (5) 8. 508.) 
The source is Hak. 1. 311. The description of the monster 
does not, however, depend on the accounts of sailors who had 
become familiar with whales, but on such passages as Job 41; 
Hak. 3. 138; Ariosto, Orlando Furioso 6. 37-42; and Sylvester's 
Dubartas, Weeks and Works, Day 5, line 110. Cf. P. L. 7. 
412-16. 

Norwich. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 246. 
A town of Norfolk. 



214 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Nottingham. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 199 (twice), 219 (twice), 228. 

A town of Nottinghamshire, at the conflux of the Leen and 
the Trent. 

Nottinghamshire. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 147. 

A county of central England, watered by the River Trent. 
Nova Anglia. See New England. 
Novgorod. See Novogrod. 
Novogardia. Moscovia (4) 8. 491. 

A district of Russia, south of Petrograd, formerly an inde- 
pendent state. Milton's source is Hak. 1. 223. 

Novogrod. Moscovia (1) 8. 476 (twice); (4) 8. 488, 491. 

Novgorod, a city of Russia one hundred miles south-southeast 
of Petrograd. "Next unto Mosco, the Citie of Novogorode is 
reputed the chiefest of Russia: for although it be in Majestie 
inferior to it, yet in greatness it goeth beyond it. It is the chiefest 
and greatest Marte Towne of all Moscovia: and albeit the 
Emperours seate is not there, but at Mosco, yet the commodious- 
nesse of the river, falling into that gulfe, which is called Sinus 
Finnicus, whereby it is well frequented by Marchants, makes it 
more famous than Mosco itselfe. This towne excels all the rest 
in the commodoties of flaxe and hempe: it yeelds also hides, 
honie, and waxe." (Hak. 1. 251.) Ivan Vasilowich "brought 
under his subjection . . . Novogrod. . . . The treasure of Novo- 
grod was so exceeding that the great Duke is reported to have 
carried home from thence 300 carts laden with gold and silver." 
(Hak. 1. 223.) Milton's account of the way from St. Nicholas 
to Novgorod is from Hak. 1. 365, to which he gives a reference. 
The latitude is from Hak. 1. 335. 

Niirnberg. See Noriberga. 
Numidia. Commonplace 57. 

The Roman name of a district of north Africa, in part corre- 
sponding to the modern Algiers. 

Nyseian lie. P. L. 4. 275. (See also Triton.) 

Nysa was a city of north Africa, on an island in the River 
Triton. Diodorus describes it as follows: "Ammon fearing the 
rageful jealousy of Rhea, concealed his adultery [with Amalthea]; 
and privately sent away the child [Bacchus] afar off to the city 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 215 

Nysa, which Hes in an island almost inaccessible, surrounded 
by the river Triton, into which there is but one strait and narrow 
entrance, called the Nysian gates. The land there is very rich, 
abounding with pleasant meadows, watered on every side with 
refreshing streams; wherein grow all sorts of fruit-trees and vines, 
which grow of themselves, for the most part running up on 
the sides of trees. A gentle, cooling and refreshing wind pierces 
through the whole island, which makes the place exceeding 
healthful, so that the inhabitants live much longer here than any 
in the surrounding countries. The first entrance into the island 
runs up a long vale, shaded all along with high and lofty trees, 
so thick that only a dim and glimmering light passes through; 
but the fiery beams of the sun enter not in the least to offend the 
passenger. In passing along, issue many sweet and crystal 
springs, so that the place is most pleasant and delightful to them 
that have a desire there to divert themselves. When you are 
out of this vale, a pleasant and very large grotto, of a round form, 
presents itself, arched over with an exceeding high and craggy 
rock, bespangled with stones of divers resplendent colours; for, 
being chequered, some sparkled with purple rays, some with 
azure, and others darted forth their refulgent beauty in divers 
other colors, no color being ever known but might be seen there. 
At the entrance grew trees of a strange and wonderful nature, 
some bearing fruit, others always green and flourishing, as if 
they had been created by nature to delight the sight: in these 
nested all sorts of birds, whose colour and pleasing notes even 
ravished the senses with sweet delight: so that all the place 
around imparted a sort of divine pleasure, not only to the eye, 
but to the ear; the sweetness of natural notes far excelling the 
artificial harmonies of all other music whatsoever. Passing 
through this appears a large and spacious grotto, in every part 
enlightened by the bright rays of the sun : here grow various sorts 
of flowers and plants, especially cassia, and others that per- 
petually preserve their sweet odours in their natural strength. 
Here are to be seen the many pleasant apartments of the nymphs 
(composed of various flowers, planted in that order by wise 
nature's hand, and not by man's art) fit to receive even the gods 
themselves. Within all this pleasant round is not a flower or a 
leaf to be seen withered, or in the least decayed; so that the 
spectators are not only delighted with the sight, but even trans- 
15 



216 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

ported with the pleasures of the fragrant smells and sweet odors 
of the place." (3. 67.) As Milton suggests, this place somewhat 
resembles his own Garden of Eden. 

Nysnovogorod. Moscovia (1) 8. 475. 

Nijni-Novgorod, a city of central Russia at the junction of the 
Oka and the Volga. Jenkinson, to whom Milton refers in a 
note, calls it a "faire town and castle." (Hak. 1. 324.) 

Oak-Lea. See Ak-Lea. 

Oatlands (Coway Stakes). Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 41. 

Camden, to whom Milton refers in a note, writes: "At the 
spot where [the Wey] falls into the Thames by two channels, 
stands Oatelands, a beautiful palace in a park, near which Caesar 
crossed the Thames into Cassivelaun's territories; this being 
the only place where the Thames could be forded, and that with 
great difficulty, which themselves in a manner discovered to 
Caesar. On the other side this river was drawn up a large army 
of Britans, and the bank itself defended with sharp stakes driven 
into it, and some of the same were concealed under water in the 
bed of the river. Remains of these, says Bede, are still to be 
seen. ... I cannot be mistaken in this, the river being scarce 
six feet deep hereabouts, and the place called from these stakes 
Coway stakes." (1. 168.) Milton had doubtless often passed 
this place in his journeys from Horton to London. 

Ob. P. L. 9. 78; Moscovia (1) 8. 471, 473; (2) 8. 482 (4 times), 

483 (thrice); (3) 8. 485, 487. 

A river of Siberia, flowing north into the Gulf of Ob, which 
empties into the Arctic Ocean. Josias Logan, describing the 
coast of Russia east of Pechora (g. v.), writes, in an account to 
which Milton refers in a note: "From thence [the ' Streight of 
Vaygats '] still keeping your course North-east, untill you come to 
a long Point on the Starboord side, with a sand lying off into the 
Sea three miles. . . . Which when you have gotten about, you 
must hold your course somewhat more enclining to the South, 
five or six dayes more : and then you shall come to the River of 
Ob; against the mouth whereof lieth an Hand: but you must 
keepe the Sea-boord of it, by reason it is shoald betwixt it and the 
Mayne. The Land all alongst the shoare is a fine lowe Land, 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 217 

and the going into the River is on the East side of the Hand. 
The river is reported to be a Summer dayes sayhng over in 
bredth, and is full of Hands." (Pilgrimes 3. 543.) In an account, 
used by Milton, of the river route from Pechora to Siberia, 
we read: "In the River of Ob, are neither Woods nor In- 
habitants, till they sayle so farre up the same that they come 
neere to Siberia. But there are Woods." (lb. 3. 540.) The 
following is the source of Milton's knowledge of the extension of 
Russian dominion beyond the Ob : "They drew unto their purpose 
the good will of many of the people on the West-side of Obi, 
who of their own accord subjected themselves to the authority 
of the Muscovites, and suffered them to lay a taxation upon them, 
promising yeerely of every head (not excepting the Boyes that 
were but learning to handle the Bow) two skinnes of Sables; 
which to themselves were of no value, but esteemed of the 
Muscovites as precious as Jewels. These they promised to 
deliver to such a Treasurer as the Emperour should ordayne. 
Neither did they faile to performe the same." (lb. 3. 523.) 
The Ob was supposed to be not far from Cathay. The experience 
of sailors with ice near its mouth did not keep from circulation 
such reports as the following, part of which Milton quotes: 
"It is a common received speech of the Russes that are great 
travailers, that beyond Ob to the South-east there is a warme Sea 
... so warme that all kinde of Sea fowles live there as well in 
the Winter as in the Summer, which report argueth that this 
Sea pierseth farre into the South parts of Asia." (lb. 3. 806.) 

Occa. Moscovia (1) 8. 475 (twice). 

A river of central Russia, joining the Volga at Nijni-Novgorod. 

Ocean Isles. See Azores. 

Ockley. See Ak-Lea. 

Octodurus. 1 Defens. (4) 6. 87. 

Martigny, a town in Valais, Switzerland, near the Rhone. 

Odrysius. See Thrace. 
Oealia. See Oechalia. 
Oechalia (Oealia). P. L. 2. 542. 

Printed "Oealia" in 1667 and corrected in 1674. A town in 
Euboea conquered by Hercules, from which he was returning 



218 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

when he met his death. See Sophocles, Trachiniae 478; Ovid, 
Met. 9. 136. 

Oeta (Trachinia Rupes). Procancel. 12; Mansus 66; P. L. 2. 545. 
A mountain in the southern part of Thessaly, between which 
and the sea is the pass of Thermopylae. It is famous in my- 
thology as the scene of the death of Hercules. (Sophocles, 
Trachiniae; Ovid, Met. 9. 134 ff.) It was sometimes called the 
Trachinian Rock from Trachis, a town at its foot. 

Offa's Dyke. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 181. 

An ancient rampart, perhaps constructed by King Offa, still 
traceable through Hereford, Shropshire, Mongtomery, Denbigh, 
and Flint, from the Wye to the Dee. 

Offensive Mountain. See Opprobrious Hill. 
Ogygius. See 1. Thebes. 
Olanege. See Alney. 

Oldenburg. Lit. Oliv. (2) 7. 239 (twice); Safe-cond. (thrice). 
A former grand duchy of Germany, on the North Sea. 

Olissipo (Ulyssipo). Lit. Senat. (10) 7. 196; Lit. Oliv. (22) 7. 

265; (23) 7. 265; (33) 7. 278, 279; (41) 7. 288. 

Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, on the Tagus. 
Olympia. P. L. 2. 530; Grammar (2) 6. 481. 

A town in Elis, where the Olympian games were held. 
Olympian Hill. See Olympus. 

Olympus (Olympian Hill). Infant 44; Eleg. 5. 19, 79, 117; 

Eleg. 7. 21; Quint. Nov. 8; Prjesul. El. 63; Nat. Non 21, 46; 

Ad Patrem 30; Mansus 100; Damon. 190; P. L. 1. 516; 7. 3, 

7; 10. 583; Logic (1. 18) 7. 56. 

A mountain on the borders of Macedonia and Thessaly, 9750 
feet high. Milton sometimes means not the mountain, but 
heaven itself. (Infant 44; Quint. Nov. 8; Prcesul. El. 63; Ad 
Patrem 30; Mansus 100; cf. Comus 1.) 

Olyssipo. See Olissipo. 

Onega. Moscovia (1) 8. 476 (twice). 

The second largest lake in Europe, in northwestern Russia. 
"The towne of Povensa standeth within one mile of the famous 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 219 

lake or Ozera of Onega, which is 320 miles long, and in some 
places 70 miles over. But where it is narrowest it is 25 miles." 
(Hak. 1. 367.) 

Oose. See Ouse. 

Ophir. P. L. 11. 400; Reformation (2) 3. 70. (See also Cher- 
sonese, Sofala.) 

A place of unknown situation whence King Solomon is said 
to have obtained gold. (1 Kings 10. 11, etc.) Purchas discusses 
various regions identified with Ophir, in the Pilgrimage, p. 859. 

Ophiusa. P. L. 10. 528. 

The name means "abounding in snakes"; it was applied to 
several islands, the most important of which is now Formentara, 
near Minorca. 

Opprobrious Hill. (Hill of Scandal, Offensive Mountain). P. L. 

1. 403, 416, 443. 

A peak of the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. Its oppro- 
brium is explained by the following passages: "Then did Solomon 
build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, 
in the hill that is before Jerusalem; and for Molech, the abomina- 
tion of the children of Ammon." (1 Kings 11. 7.) "The high 
places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right 
hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of 
Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidon- 
ians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and 
for Milcolm the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the 
king defile." (2 Kings 23. 13.) Adrichomius represents two 
peaks, the Mount of Offense near the Valley of Hinnom, at the 
southern end of the Mount of Olives, and the Hill of Scandal at 
its northern end. The temple of Ashtoreth he places on the 
Mount of Olives itself. (P. 145, map; pp. 170, 171.) Fuller 
shows two peaks, included under one name, the Mount of Scandal. 
(P. 268.) Selden writes : ' ' The Mount of Olives, after it was de- 
filed by idols ... is called the Mount of Corruption." {De Dis 
Syriis, p. 376.) Quaresmius, after discussion, makes the Mount 
of Offence and the Hill of Scandal one, identifying it with the 
most southern peak of the Mount of Olives, near the fountain 
of Siloa {q. v.) and the vale of Hinnom (q. v.), where pleasant 
surroundings made the place suitable for voluptuous worship. 



220 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

{TerrcB SanctcB Elucidatio 4. 7. 19.) This identification is still 
accepted by the Latin Church. The form "Opprobrious Hill" 
seems to be Milton's own version of the name. 

Orcades (Orkney). Damon. 178; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 23; (2) 5. 67, 
72; (3) 5. 114; (6) 5. 265, 296; 2 Defens. 6. 324. 
A group of islands off the northern coast of Scotland. Milton 
thinks of them as a northern limit, writing: "Orcades extremae;" 
"extremis . . . Orcades undis;" " eev'n to the Orcades." Com- 
pare the lines of Juvenal to which Milton refers in telling of the 
conquest of the Orcades by the Romans: 

Arma quidem ultra 
Littora Juvernae promovimus, et modo captas 
Orcades, ac minima contentos nocte Britannos. 

{Sat. 2. 159-61.) 

Chaucer writes: "betwixen Orcades and Inde." {Troilus and 
Criseyde 5. 971.) 

Oreb. See Sinai. 

Orgilia. Animadv. (3. 37) 3. 213. 

A dukedom in Mundiis Alter et Idem (3. 5), the Utopia of 
Bishop Hall. 

Orkney. See Orcades. 

Orleans. HireHngs 5. 362. 

A city of France, in the department of Loiret. 

Ormus. P. L. 2. 2. (See also Balsara.) 

A city, now in ruins, on an island at the mouth of the Persian 
Gulf. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was of 
great commercial importance, and often mentioned by travelers. 
For example, we read: "Hormuz being a barren and un- 
habited Hand, and a Mountaine of Salt, is among the richest 
Countries of India one of the richest, for the many and great 
merchandize that come to it from all places of India, and from 
all Arabia, and from all Persia, even of the Mogores, and from 
Russia and Europe I saw Merchants in it, and from Venice. 
And so the Inhabiters of Hormuz doe say that all the world is a 
ring, and Hormuz is the stone of it. Whereby it is commonly 
said that the Custome house of Hormuz is a channel of Silver 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 221 

which alwaies runneth. The last yeere that I was in Hormuz, 
having continued there three yeeres, the Officers affirmed to 
mee that the Custome house did yeeld 150,000 Paradaos to the 
King of Portugall, besides that which is presumed the Moores 
and Goazill did steale, which are Officers of the Custome house. 
And although this Hand yeeldeth no fruit, neither hath water 
nor victuals, yet it hath great abundance of flesh, bread, rice, 
and great store of fish, and many and good fruits, whereof it is 
provided from many places." {Pilgrimes 2. 1787.) We read 
in Hakluyt: "Here is a very great trade of all sorts of spices, 
drugs, silk, cloth of silk, fine tapestry of Persia, great store of 
pearls, which come from the isle of Bahrim, and are the best 
pearls of all others." (2. 1. 252.) Note Andrew Marvell's line: 

Jewels more rich than Ormus shows. {Bermudas 20.) 

Camoens mentions Ormus. {Lusiads 10. 40-1, 101.) 

The description of Ormus as a "mountain of salt" suggests the 
description of the ruined Mount of Paradise as a barren island 
in the Persian Gulf. {P. L. 11. 825-31.) 

Orontes. P. L. 4.273; 9. 80. (See also Antioch, Daphne, 
Hamath.) 

The chief river of Syria, rising in the Anti-Lebanons, and 
flowing into the Mediterranean. 

Orwell. See Arenne. 

Osca. See Usk. 

Ossa. Quint. Nov. 174. (See also Pelion.) 

A mountain in Thessaly, on the coast of Magnesia, separated 
from Olympus by the Vale of Tempe. 

Ostend. Lit. Senat. (41) 7. 231, 232; (42) 7. 232; Lit. Oliv. (25) 
7. 268; (43) 7. 290; (73) 7. 324. 
A seaport of Belgium. 

Oswestre (Maserfield). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 156. 

Camden, to whom Milton refers in a note, writes as follows 
in his account of Shropshire : "On the western edge of the county 
lies Oswestre ... a small town surrounded with a ditch and 
wall, and defended with a small castle, but a place of great 



222 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

trade. ... It has its name from Oswald, king of Northumber- 
land (having before been called Maserfield)." (2. 399.) 

Otford (Ottanford). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 177; (6) 5. 260. 

A place on the River Darwent in Kent. 
Ottanford. See Otford. 
Ouglitts (Ouglets). Moscovia (4) 8. 495, 498, 501. 

A city of central Russia, on the Volga. Milton in a note 
refers to Pilgrimes 3. 750. 

Ouse (Oose, Usa). Vacat. Ex. 92; Damon. 175; Hist. Brit. (5) 

5. 214, 217 (twice), 218; (6) 5. 295 (twice). 

In Hist. Brit. Milton refers to two rivers named Ouse. The 
first four references are to the river which rises in Oxfordshire, 
and flows through Buckingham, Bedford, Huntingdon, Cam- 
bridge, and Norfolk, into the Wash. The last two references are 
to the Ouse of Yorkshire, one of the principal tributaries of the 
Humber. It is probably one of these which is to be understood 
by the Ouse of the poetry, for the other English rivers of the 
same name are less considerable. The first of the two was 
perhaps better known to Milton, since it flows through Bucks, 
where he so long resided ; however, it is in the northern part of the 
county and Horton is in the south. He must also have seen this 
river in Cambridgeshire, for the Cam is a tributary of the Ouse. 
Drayton has much to say of both streams. (Polyolbion 22, 28.) 
Spenser refers to the Ouse of Yorkshire as "Oze the most of 
might." (F. Q. 4. 11. 37. 6.) Of the southern Ouse he writes: 

Next these the plenteous Ouse came far from land, 

By many a city, and by many a towne, 

And many rivers taking under hand 

Into his waters, as he passeth downe, 

The Cle, the Were, the Grant, the Sture, the Rowne. 

Thence doth by Huntingdon and Cambridge flit, 

My mother Cambridge, whom as with a Crowne 

He doth adorne, and is adorn 'd of it 

With many a gentle Muse, and many a learned wit. 

{F. Q. 4. IL 34.) 
Oustzilma. Moscovia (1) 8. 473. 

A town on the River Pechora, of which Pursglove, in a passage 
to which Milton refers in a note, says: "Oust-zilma is a pretie 
Town of some sixtie Houses: and is three or foure dayes sayling 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 223 

with a faire wind against the streame from Pustozer." {Pil- 
grimes 3. 549.) 

Owiga. Moscovia (1) 8. 476. 

The Wyg, a river of northern Russia, flowing into the White 
Sea. Southam and Sparks, on whose account of the route 
by water from St. Nicholas to Novgorod Milton drew, call the 
river "dangerous," and say further: "At a place where the 
water falleth from the rocks, as if it came steepe downe from a 
mountain, we were constrained to take out our goods and wares 
out of the said boats, and caused them to be caried a mile over 
land, and afterwards also had our boats in like sort caried or 
drawen over land by force of men which there dwelled." (Hak. 
1. 366.) 

Oxford (Oxonia). Ad Rous. Title, 64; Epist. Fam. (9) 7. 2>^Z- 
(19) 7. 397; Church-gov. (1. 5) 3. 113; Eikonocl. (4) 3. 368; 
(12) 3. 433; (18) 3. 469; (19) 3. 475; (22) 3. 487; Hist. Brit. 
(5) 5. 213, 215; (6) 5. 252, 254, 261, 264, 268, 271; Notes: 
Grif. 5. 396, 399; Easy Way 5. 422; Commonplace 179; MS. 
2. 114. 

A city of Oxfordshire, seat of the University of Oxford, of 
which Camden speaks as follows: "At the conflux of the Cherwell 
with the Isis, and where their streams being interrupted form a 
number of very pleasant islands, stands in a plain the famous 
University of Oxford, . . . our most noble Athens, the seat of 
the Muses, the support, or rather the sun, the eye, the soul of 
England, the most famous source of learning and wisdom, whence 
religion, politeness, and learning are copiously diffused all over 
the kingdom. The city is handsome and neat; whether we 
regard the beauty of the private, the noble magnificence of the 
public buildings, or the healthiness and pleasantness of the 
situation." (1. 287.) 

Oxfordshire. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 174; (5) 5. 216; (6) 5. 249, 250. 
"The county of Oxfordshire ... is on the west, where it is 
broadest, divided by the river Isis from Berkshire, bounded on 
the east by Buckinghamshire; on the north, where it ends as it 
were in a cone, by Northamptonshire on one hand, and by 
Warwickshire on the other. It is a fruitful rich county, the level 
parts diversified with corn fields and meadows; the hills covered 
with woods; and it abounds not only with corn but all kinds of 



224 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

game, and is watered by rivers well stocked with fish." (Camden 
1. 285.) Milton spent some time in Oxfordshire at the time of 
his marriage with Mary Powell, whose home was at Forest Hill. 

Oxonia. See Oxford. 

Oxus. P. L. 11. 389. (See also Sogdiana.) 

Now called Amu-Daria, a large river of central Asia, flowing 
into the Aral Sea. It has been known since the expedition of 
Alexander the Great. Jenkinson saw it in 1558. (Hak. 1. 331 
ff.) The maps of the time of Milton represent it as flowing into 
the Caspian. 

Padan-Aram. P. L. 3. 513. 

A place of unknown situation, apparently northeast from 
Palestine. Milton mentions it in connection with events nar- 
rated in Genesis 28. Bochart thinks the name indicates the 
cultivated part of Mesopotamia. (P. 86.) 

Padlachia. Decl. Poland 8. 466. 

Podlachie, a province of Poland, bounded to the north and 
east by Lithuania, and watered by the Bug, an eastern tributary 
of the Vistula. 

Padolia. See Podolia. 

Paladur. See Shaftsbury. 

Palatinate. Bucer: Divorce (Test.) 4. 292. 

A district of Germany, in 1648 divided into the upper Palati- 
nate, attached to Bavaria, and the Rhine Palatinate, of which 
the chief city was Heidelberg. 

Palatine. P. R. 4. 50. 

The most central of the seven hills on which Rome was built. 
On it stood the palace of the Roman Emperor. 

Palestine (Philistia). Nativity 199; Ps. 87. 14; P. L. 1. 80, 465; 

Samson 144, 1099, 1714; Commonplace 109. (See also 

Philistines.) 

In his poetry Milton, following the Scriptural usage {e. g., 
Joel 3. 4), applies the name Palestine to the land now usually 
called Philistia, the strip of country lying between the highlands 
of Judea {q. v.), and the sea, bounded on the south by the desert, 
and on the north extending to Carmel. The adjective "Pales- 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 225 

tinus" (Ad Patrem 85) means Hebrew. Sandys correctly ex- 
plains the name thus* "The Palestines (called Philistines in the 
Scriptures) ... of whom afterwards the whole Land of Promise 
took the name of Palestine." (P. 116.) 

Palestinus. See Israel. 

Palestrina. See Praeneste. 

Palma. Lit. Oliv. (30) 7. 273. (See also Canaries.) 
One of the Canary Islands. 

Pamphagonia. Animadv. (3. 37) 3. 213. 

A province in Mundus Alter et Idem (1. 2), the Utopia of 
Bishop Hall. 

Paneas. P. L. 3. 535. (See also Dan, Jordan.) 

Banias, in northern Palestine, where is one of the sources of 
Jordan. The town of Paneas is identified now, as in Milton's 
aay, with Caesarea Philippi, which was then supposed to stand 
dt the junction of Jor and Dan, two streams forming the Jordan 
(Adrichomius, p. 100, map). However, it is now known that Caes- 
area Philippi was situated not at such a junction, but at the 
great spring at Banias. Paneas was also identified with Dan, as 
by Saint Jerome, who says that Dan is a town of Phoenicia, now 
called Paneas. (On Ge?iesis 13. 14.) Milton substitutes Paneas 
for Dan in the expression "from Dan even to Beersheba," in 
which Dan is the most northern city of Palestine. Fuller writes : 
"Amongst the mountains of Libanus, we meet with one of eminent 
note, not only having a name peculiar to itself, but from which 
it hath also denominated the adjacent country. This is Mount 
Paneas, wherein there is a deep hole or cave. And though places 
of this kind commonly have more horror than pleasure in them, 
this, besides its natural beauty, was adorned with artificial 
structures in and about it. Herein also was an unsoundable 
spring of water, conceived by some to be the primitive spring of 
Jordan." (P. 103.) On his map he identifies Dan and Caesarea, 
and places therpat the junction of the streams Jor and Dan. Near 
" Jor fons " (the source of Jor) is "Antrum Paneas," which he in- 
correctly makes the western instead of the eastern source of Jordan. 
Adrichomius shows the town of Paneas (Dan, Caesarea) at the 
junction of Jor and Dan, and calls the mount from which the 



226 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

river springs Panius. Milton refers to the fountain of Paneas 
rather than to the city incorrectly separated from it. 

Pannonia. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 46; Rami Vita 7. 185. 

A province of the Roman Empire, bounded on the north and 
east by the Danube, on the south by Moesia and Illyricum, and 
on the west by Noricum; now mostly included in Hungary. 

Paphos. Eleg. 1. 84; Eleg. 5. 60; Eleg. 7. 2; Mansus 92. 

A city of Cyprus, famed for its temple of Venus, to which 
Horace refers : 

O Venus, regina Cnidi Paphique. 

{Odes 1. 30. 1.) 
Paquin. See Cambalu. 

Paradise (Garden, High Seat, Hill, Mountain). (See also Eden.) 
P. L. 3. 66, 527, 632, 733; 4. Arg., 132, 143, 172, 208, 209, 
215, 224, 226, 230, 241, 274, 282, 285, 371, 379, 422, 529, 542, 
752, 789, 991; 5. 143, 226, 260, 275, 368, 446, 749; 7. 45, 538; 
8. 171, 299, 319, 321, 326; -9. 71, 206, 406, 476, 619, 660, 662, 
796; 10. 2, 17, 98, 116, 326, 398, 484, 551, 585, 598, 742, 746, 
1065; 11. 29, 48, 97, 104, 118, 123, 210, 222, 259, 261, 269, 342, 
378, 826; 12. 586, 642; P. R. 1. 1, 52; 2. 141; 4. 604, 608, 611; 
Divorce (1. 4) 4. 29, 30; (2. 11) 4. 91 (twice); (2. 13) 4. 95. 
The Earthly Paradise, the Garden of God in the east of Eden. 

Paris (Lutetia Parisiorum, Parish). Apology (Introd.) 3. 275; 

(8) 3. 310; Tetrach. (Deut. 24. 1, 2) 4. 176; Education 4. 393; 

Kings & Mag. 4. 487; Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 86; 2 Defens. 6. 260, 

287, 310; Pro Se Defens. 6. 355; Grammar (2) 6. 469; Rami 

Vita 7. 178 (twice), 179 (thrice), 182 (twice), 183, 185 (twice); 

Lit. Oliv. (43) 7. 290; (80) 7. 331, 332; Lit. Rich. (8) 7. 339; 

Epist. Fam. (15) 7. 392; (25) 7. 404; Commonplace 53, 61, 186. 

Milton passed through Paris on his journey to Italy and on 
his return thence. 

Parnassus. Eleg. 4. 30; 5. 9; Ad Patrem 3, 16; Mansus 92; 

Ad Rous. 66; 3 Prolus. 7. 426; 6 Prolus. 7. 444. 

A mountain in Phocis, celebrated as a haunt of Apollo and 
the Muses. At its foot were the Castalian Spring and Delphi, 
where was the famous oracle of Apollo. Ovid writes of it: 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 227 

Mons ibi verticibus petit arduus astra duobus, 
Nomine Parnasus, superantque cacumina nubes. 

{Met. 1. 316-7.) 
Parnasusque biceps. 

{Met. 2. 22L) 

The two peaks are often mentioned, as by Dante {Paradiso 1. 17), 

and Quarles. {Funeral Elegies 2.) 

Parrett. See Pedridan. 

Parthenope, Tomb of. Comus 879. (See also Naples.) 

Supposed to be at Naples, which was in early days named 
Parthenope. Strabo remarks in his account of Naples: "Here 
is pointed out the tomb of [the siren] Parthenope." (5. 4. 7.) 
Milton refers to the story in 3 Leonor. 
Parthia. Eleg. 7. 36; P. R. 3. 290, 294, 299, 362, 363, 369; 

4. 73, 85. 

At the time of its greatest extent the Parthian Empire was 
bounded by the Euphrates, the Caspian Sea, the Indus River, 
and the Indian Ocean. 
Pasham. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 218. 

Also called Passenham, a village of Northampton, on the River 
Ouse at the border of Buckinghamshire. 
Pauls. Areopag. 4. 406. 

St. Paul's, the cathedral of London. The present building 
is on the site of that to which Milton refers, burned in the great 
fire of 1666. By " the west end of Pauls" Milton may refer either 
to the palace of the Bishop of London, who was appointed a 
licenser of books by a decree of the Star-Chamber in 1637, or to 
Stationers' Hall, where books were registered, both of these being 
at the west end of the cathedral. (Stow 2. 20.) 

Pausilipum. 3 Leonor. 6. 

Posilipo, a mountain between Naples and Puteoli, It is pene- 
trated by a tunnel connecting the two places. Evelyn tells of 
passing through the tunnel, and mentions the fruitfulness of 
the mountain. {Diary, Feb. 7, 1645.) Sandys writes: "This 
mountain doth stretch from Northeast to Southwest in form of a 
prostrated Pyramis, and although flat on the top, on each side 
steeply declining. Southeastward bordering with the Sea, and 
Northwestward with the Country. I will not now speak of the 
delicate Wine which it yieldeth, neat and fragrant, of a more 



228 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

pleasing gust and far less heavy than those of Vesuvium; nor 
of those Orchards both great and many, replenished with all 
sorts of almost to be named Fruit-trees, especially with Oranges 
and Lemons, which at once do delight three senses; nor how 
grateful the soil is (though stony) to the Tiller." (P. 205.) 
Probably Milton visited the mountain while he was at Naples. 

Pavia Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 184; Commonplace 53. 
A city of Venetia, Italy. 

1. Pechora (Petsora, Petzora). P. L. 10. 292 ; Moscovia (1) 8. 472 
(twice), 473 (twice); (5) 8. 519 (twice). (See also Pustozera, 
Vaiguts.) 

A river of northeastern Russia, flowing into the Arctic Ocean. 
William Gourdon writes: "At noone we came by Gods direction 
into one of the chiefest entrances of the River Pechora. . . . 
We came to a Sari or Ferme house of one of the principall men 
of the Towne. ... He lay there at this time to take Duckes, 
Swannes, Geese, and other Fowles: for then was the time of the 
yeere. Their feathers they sell, and their bodies they salt for 
winter provision. ... A great part of the goods which come to 
Colmogro upon Dwina doe passe in one place or other by the 
River Pechora, which, they say, runneth through Siberia; and 
how much farther they themselves know not." {Pilgrimes 3. 
533.) Richard Finch writes: "After our getting over the Barre 
of the Pechorskoi Zavorot and that we were come to an anchor, 
we rode in great danger by the abundance of Ice, and the strong 
tide both of the ebbe and floud, which drove the same so forcibly 
against our ship. For, the eleventh of July, lying in foure 
fathoms water, a piece of an Island of Ice set with such power 
against our ship, that it drove us out of our riding into eight foot 
and an halfe, and nine foot water." {lb. 3. 534.) "The River of 
Pechora runneth through great Permia; and the head thereof is 
five weeks travell from Pustozera." {Ih. 3. 552.) "Out of the 
Mountaines of Jugoria issueth the River Petsora, which falleth 
into the Ocean Sea on this side the Streight of Waygats [Vaigatz]." 
{Ih. 3. 525.) 

2. Pechora. Moscovia (1) 8. 473. (See also Pustozera.) 
Shown on Jenkinson's map of Russia as a town on the left 

bank of the River Pechora, in northern Russia, very near the 
sea, some distance below Pustozera. In Purchas it is described 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 229 

as small. (Pilgrimes 3. 536.) The name does not appear as 
that of a town on modern maps. 

Pedemontanae Valles. See Piemont. 

Pedridan. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 161; (5) 5. 193. 

The River Parrett, rising in Somersetshire and flowing into 
the Severn. 

Pelion. Quint. Nov. 174. 

A lofty mountain of Thessaly, extending along the coast of 
Magnesia. It is famous in mythology because of the attempt 
of the giants to scale heaven by piling Mount Ossa upon it. 

Pellean. P. R. 2. 196. 

Pella was an ancient city of Macedonia, now called Apostolus, the 
capital of Philip and the birthplace of Alexander the Great. The 
adjective is often applied to Alexander, (E. g., Juvenal 10. 168.) 

Pelorus. Nat. non 56; P. L. 1. 232. (See also .^tna.) 

The promontory at the northeast corner of Sicily. Diodorus 
says that some believed that Sicily was once a peninsula, and 
"that the narrow neck of the continent was rent asunder by an 
earthquake, and by that means the sea burst into that part 
where the convulsion was made." (4. 85.) Milton's explana- 
tion of earthquakes is like that in Lucretius 6. 535-607. 

Pen. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 161; (6) 5. 258. 

Probably Pen-Selwood, on the confines of Wiltshire, Somerset, 
and Dorsetshire. 

Peneus. Eleg. 5. 13; Eleg. 7. 33; Mansus 62. 

A river of Thessaly, flowing into the ^gean through the Vale 
of Tempe. It is described by Ovid in Met. 1. 567-73. 

Penho. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 244. 
Pin ho, Devonshire. 

Penuel. Samson 278. 

A city of Palestine, east of the Jordan. Its exact site is un- 
known. Milton takes the name from Judges 8. 5-17. 

Perea. P. R. 2. 24. 

Persea, the region east of the Jordan, defined by Josephus as 
extending from Macherus to Pella, and from Philadelphia to the 
Jordan. (Jewish War 3. 3. 3.) 



230 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Pereslave. Moscovia (1) 8. 474; (5) 8. 5U. 

Pereiaslave, a city of southwestern Russia, at the confluence 
of the Alta and the Troubeje. Milton's description comes di- 
rectly from Hak. 1. 312, a passage to which he refers in a note. 

Pergamum. Respons. 6. 426. 

A city of Mysia, Asia Minor, on the River Caicus, now called 
Bergama. 

Pergamus. See Troy. 

Permia. Moscovia (1) 8. 473, 475. 

A part of eastern Russia, bordering on Siberia. We read in 
Hakluyt: "The Permians and Samoits, that lie from Russia 
North and Northeast are thought likewise to have their begin- 
nings from the Tartar kinde. . . . The Permians are accounted 
for a very ancient people. They are nowe subject to the Russe. 
They live by hunting and trading with their furres, as also doth 
the Samoit, that dwelleth more towardes the North Sea." 
(1.491.) 

Persepolis. P. R. 3. 284. 

An ancient city of southern Persia, now ruined. Diodorus 
writes as follows: Alexander "then called the Macedonians 
together, and told them that Persepolis, the metropolis of the 
kingdom of Persia, of all the cities of Asia had done most mischief 
to the Grecians, and therefore he gave it up to the plunder and 
spoil of the soldiers, except the king's palace. This was the 
richest city of any under the sun, and for many ages all the 
private houses were full of all sorts of wealth, and whatever was 
desirable. The Macedonians, therefore, forcing into the city, 
put all the men to the sword, and rifled and carried away every 
man's goods and estate, amongst which was abundance of rich 
and costly furniture and ornaments of all sorts. In this place 
was hurried away here and there vast quantities of silver, and 
no less of gold, great numbers of rich garments, some of purple, 
other embroidered with gold, all which became a plentiful spoil 
to the ravenous soldiers: and thus the great seat-royal of the 
Persians, once famous all the world over, was now exposed to 
scorn from top to bottom. ... So that by how much Persepolis 
excelled all the other cities in glory and worldly felicity, by so 
much more was the measure of their misery and calamity. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 231 

Then Alexander seized upon all the treasures in the citadel, 
which was a vast quantity of gold and silver of the public revenues 
that had been there collected and laid up, from the time of Cyrus, 
the first great king of Persia, to that day. For there was found 
a hundred and twenty thousand talents, reckoning the gold 
after the rate of silver." He describes the palace as follows: 
"This stately fabric, or citadel, was surrounded with a treble 
wall: the first was sixteen cubits high, adorned with many 
sumptuous buildings and aspiring turrets. The second was like 
to the first, but as high again as the other. The third was drawn 
like a quadrant, foursquare, sixty cubits high, all of the hardest 
marble, and so cemented as to continue for ever. On the four 
sides are brazen gates, near to which are gallowses of brass twenty 
cubits high; these raised to terrify the beholders, and the other 
for the better strengthening and fortifying of the palace. On the 
east side of the citadel, about four hundred feet distant, stood a 
mount called the Royal Mount, for here are all the sepulchres of 
the kings, many apartments and little cells being cut into the 
midst of the rock; into which there is made no direct passage, 
but the coffins with the dead bodies are by instruments hoisted 
up, and so let down into these vaults. In this citadel are many 
stately lodgings, both for the king and his soldiers, of excellent 
workmanship, and treasury chambers most commodiously con- 
trived for the laying up of money." (17. 70.) 

Persia (Achaemenius, Persis). Eleg. 1. 65; P. L. 11. 393; Hist. 

Brit. (2) 5. 45; Lit. Senat. (44) 7. 235; (45) 7. 237; Doct. 

Christ. (2. 11) 2. 382. (See also Bactria, Ecbatan, Hispahan, 

Tauris, Casbeen.) 

A country of Asia extending from the Caspian Sea to the 
Indian Ocean. In the time of Milton it had been visited and 
described by a number of Englishmen, and their accounts are 
given by Hakluyt and Purchas. The reign of Shah Abbas (1586- 
1628) was a period of prosperity. 

Persian Bay (Gulf). P. L. 11. 829; P. R. 3. 258, 273. (See also 

Ormus.) 

The great inlet of the Indian Ocean separating Arabia from 
Persia, and receiving the waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates. 

Persis. See Persia. 

16 



232 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Pertha. 2 Defens. 6. 301. 

Perth, a city of Perthshire, Scotland, on the River Tay. 

Peru (Peruana Regna) . Ad Patrem 94 ; P. L. 1 1 . 408 ; Animadv. 
(3. 37) 3. 213. (See also Austria, Gusco, Guiana, India (West).) 
A country of western South America, bordering on the Pacific 
Ocean. In Milton's time writers often applied the name to all 
of South America, as he seems to do in Ad Patrem. The fol- 
lowing is one of the accounts of the capture of the Inca by the 
Spaniards: "Atabalipa the Indian Prince sent unto them to 
know what they did in his Land, and what they sought for. 
The Spaniards made answer that they were the messengers of a 
great Lord, and that they came to speak with the Prince himself e, 
who sent them word that they should come with a very good 
will, and so Atabalipa stayed for them at a Citie called Caxa- 
malca, being thirtie leagues distant from the Sea side. Whither 
being come, they found the Indian Prince sitting in a Chariot 
of Gold, carried upon mens shoulders, and accompanied with 
above sixtie thousand Indians all ready armed for the war res. 
Then the Spaniards told them that they were sent from an 
Emperour unto whom the Pope had given all that Land, to 
convert them unto the Christian Faith. . . . Now while they 
were thus in talke, the Spaniards discharging their two Field- 
pieces, and their Calivers, set upon the Indians, crying Sant lago. 
The Indians hearing the noise of the Ordnance and small shot, 
and seeing the fire, thought that flames of fire had been come 
downe from Heaven upon them; whereupon they fled, and left 
their Prince as a bootie for the Spaniards, whom they at the 
first intreated very gently, wishing him not to feare, for that their 
comming was onely to seeke for Gold and Silver. . . . Atabalipa 
told the Spaniards that if they would release him, he would give 
them all that they should demand. This communication having 
continued a whole day, at length a Souldier named Soto said 
unto Atabalipa: What wilt thou give us to set thee free? The 
Prince answered: I will give whatsoever you will demand. 
Whereto the Souldier replied : Thou shalt give us this house full 
of Gold and Silver, thus high, lifting up his sword, and making 
a stroke upon the wall. And Atabalipa said that if they would 
grant him respite to send unto his Kingdome, he would fulfill 
their demand. Whereat the Spaniards much marvelling gave 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 233 

him three moneths time, but hee had filled the house in two 
moneths and a halfe, a matter scarce credible, yet most true, for 
I know about twentie men that were there at that time, who all 
affirme that it was above ten millions of Gold and Silver." 
(Pilgrimes 4. 1445.) Spenser twice mentions "th' Indian Peru." 
(F. Q. 2. Pr. 2. 6; 3. 3. 6. 8.) 

Peruana Regna. See Peru. 

Petra. Tetrach. (Matt. 19. 3) 4. 207. 

A city of Arabia Petrsea, situated in the region between the 
Dead Sea and the ^lanitic Gulf. 

Petsora. See Pechora. 

Pettislego, Moscovia (5) 8. 508. 

Pitsligo, a seaport of northern Aberdeenshire, Scotland. 

Petzora. See Pechora. 

Pevensey. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 276, 277, 297. (See also Andred- 

chester.) 

In describing the coast of Sussex Camden writes: "We come 
to Pevensey, formerly the castle of Robert earl of Moreton, 
maternal brother to William the Conqueror. ... At present 
only the walls of the castle remain." (1. 189.) Pevensey is 
sometimes identified with Anderida. 

Pharian Fields. See Egypt. 

Pharpar. P. L. 1. 469. (See also Abbana, Damascus.) 

A river flowing from Mount Hermon, south of Damascus, and 
emptying into a lake. 

Philippi (^mathia Urbs). Eleg. 4. 102; Animadv. (13. 76) 

3. 225. 

A city in the eastern part of Macedonia, where Saint Paul 
founded a church. He was there beaten and imprisoned. (Acts 
16. 12-40.) 

Philistean. See Philistian. 

Philistia. See Palestine. 

Philistian. P. L. 9. 1061; Samson 39, 42, 216, 482, 722, 831, 
1371, 1655, 1714. 
Pertaining to Philistia, or the Philistines (5. v.). 



234 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Philistines. Samson 238, 251, 434, 577, 808, 1099, 1189, 1192, 
1363, 1523. (See also Palestine, Philistian.) 
The inhabitants of Philistia, neighbors of Israel on the west. 

Phlegra. P. L. 1. 577; 1 Prolus. 7. 412. 

The westernmost of the three headlands of the peninsula of 

Chalcidice, in the yEgean. It is said by Pindar to have been 

the scene of the conflict between the gods and the earthborn 

giants. {Nem. 1. 67.) 

Phoenicia. P. L. 1. 438. (See also Assyria.) 

The country on the east coast of the Mediterranean, between 
the Lebanons and the Sea. 

Phrygia. Eikonocl. (17) 3. 466; Pro Se Defens. 6. 349; Respons. 

6. 426; Decl. Poland 8. 464. 

A district of Asia Minor, of varying boundaries. It bordered 
on the Hellespont, and extended into the interior. 

Pictland. Civil Power 5. 333; Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 219. 

The word in the Chronicle 924 that Milton, in Hist. Brit., 
renders "Pictland" isPeaclond, that is, Peakland, the hilly region 
in Derbyshire known as the Peak, The land of the Picts would 
be the western highlands of Scotland. Milton was doubtless 
misled by the mention of the Scots in the passage in the Chronicle^ 

Piedmont. See Piemont. 

Piemont (Pedemontanae Valles, Piedmont). Sonnet 15. 7; 
Eikonocl. (17) 3. 464 (twice); Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 89; HireHngs 
5. 371; Lit. Oliv. (16) 7. 257; (19) 7. 261. (See also Savoy.) 
A part of northwestern Italy, partly mountainous, bordering on 

France and Switzerland. In Milton's time it was ruled by the 

Dukes of Savoy. 

Pierus. Eleg. 4. 31; 2 Leonor. 5; Ad Patrem 1; Mansus 2. 
A mountain in Thessaly sacred to the Muses, the Pierides. 

Pinarolium. Lit. Oliv. (67) 7. 317; (68) 7. 319. 
Pinerolo, a town of Piedmont, Italy. 

Pinega. Moscovia (1) 8. 472, 474. (See also Duina.) 

A river of northern Russia, tributary to the Dwina. Jenkinson 

writes thus: "I departed in a little boate up the great river of 

Dwina, which runneth very swiftly, and the self same day passed 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 235 

by the mouth of the river called Pinego, leaving it on our left 
hand fifteene versts from Colmogro. On both sides of the mouth 
of this river Pinego is high land, great rocks of Alablaster, great 
woods, and Pineapple trees lying along within the ground, which 
by report have lien there since Noes flood." (Hak. 1. 312.) 

Pinerolo. See Pinarolium. 

Pinho. See Penho. 

Pirene. See Pyrene. 

Pisa. Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 273; 2 Defens. 6. 288. 

A city of Tuscany, on the Arno, seven miles from the sea. 
Milton passed through Pisa, then under the power of Florence, 
on his way to the latter city. 

Pisida. Moscovia (3) 8. 485. 

A river of Siberia east of Yenisei, perhaps the Lena or some of 
its tributaries. 

Pisidia. 1 Defens. (4) 6. 83. 

A district of southern Asia Minor. 
Pitsligo. See Pettislego. 
Plesco (Vobsco). Moscovia (1) 8. 476 (twice); (4) 8. 488, 491. 

Pskof, a city of northwestern Russia near the lake of the 
same name. Vobsco is another form of the name, used in the 
time of Milton. {Early Voyages to Russia, Hakluyt Soc, p. 
cxliv.) Since Milton, in a list of cities, gives both forms, with 
"Smolensko" intervening, he seems to have thought them the 
names of distinct cities. He was not alone in this error, for 
Heylyn, in his Cosmography, describes the town once as Pskow, 
and again as Vobsco. Milton was perhaps misled by his sources 
{e. g., Hak. 1. 252, 480). Yet in Horsey's Observations, to which he 
refers in Moscovia (4) 8. 492, and which he apparently had read, 
we find " Plescoue (alias Vobsco)." { Pilgrimage, ed. 1626, p. 974.) 

Plimouth. Contra Hisp. 7. 356. 

Plymouth, a seaport of Devonshire, England. 

Plymouth. See Plimouth. 
Podhajecy. Decl. Poland 8. 462. 

Podhayce, a town of Galicia southeast of Lemberg. 

Podlachie. See Padlachia. 



236 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Podolia (Padolia). Decl. Poland 8. 462, 466. 
A part of Poland, watered by the Dniester, 

Poland (Polonia). Hirelings 5. 385; Lit. Oliv. (20) 7. 262; 

Decl. Poland 8. 459, 460 (thrice), 461, 465 (twice), 466,467; 

Moscovia (1) 8. 471; (4) 8. 490, 491, 494, 497, 498, 500. 

In the time of Milton Poland extended from the Baltic to 
the Black Sea, but its outlying territories were subject to fre- 
quent invasion, and often, especially in the south, out of Polish 
control. 

Polar Circles. P. L. 10; 681. 

The Arctic and Antarctic Circles. 

Pole. P. L. 2. 642; 9. 66; 10. 669. 

In the first reference the South Pole, in the others both Poles. 
Where Milton elsewhere uses the word he refers to the celestial 
poles. 

Pomerania. Lit. Rich. (6) 7. 337; Decl. Poland 8. 458. 
A province of Prussia, oh the Baltic Sea. 

Pomisania. Decl. Poland 8, 467. 

Pomesania, part of the present West Prussia, bounded on the 
north and east chiefly by the Palatinate of Marienburg, on the 
south mainly by the Palatinate of Culm, on the west partly by 
the Vistula. 

Pontesbury. See Possentesburg. 

Ponthieu. See Pontiew. 

Pontic. See 1. Pontus. 

Pontiew. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 289. 

Ponthieu, a district of northern France, on the Channel. 

1. Pontus (Pontic). P. L. 5. 340; P. R. 3. 36. 

A district of Asia Minor extending along the shore of the Black 
Sea from Colchis in the east to the River Halys in the west. 
Milton's reference to the fruits of Pontus suggests the following 
in Strabo's description of the region: "The country at the foot 
of the mountains produces so large an autumnal crop of spon- 
taneous-grown wild fruits, of the vine, the pear, the apple, and 
hazel, that, in all seasons of the year, persons who go into the 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 237 

woods to cut timber gather them in large quantities; the fruit 
is found either yet hanging upon the trees or lying beneath a 
deep covering of fallen leaves thickly strewn upon the ground." 

(12. 3. 15.) 

2. Pontus. P. L. 9. 77; P. R. 2. 347. 

Properly Pontus Euxinus, the Black Sea, the great body of 
water north of Asia Minor. For the word Pontus used alone 
see Solinus, Geography 10. 23. In antiquity fish caught in this 
sea were sometimes pickled (Athenaeus 3. 116); Aulus Gellius 
gives a list of imported dainties, of which one is young tunny-fish 
from Chalcedon on Pontus. (6. 16. 5.) Dionysius Periegetes 
describes the sea as follows: "Pontus lies open to men, 
"great and stretching toward the east its great recess. Verily, 
its paths run obliquely, ever looking toward the north and the 
east. On this side and on that two promontories jut into the 
midst, one on the south which they call Carambis, the other on 
the north over against the land of Europe, which the dwellers 
nearby call the headland of Krion. These two look toward one 
another from opposite sides, though they are not near, but as 
far asunder as a ship can go in three days. From this you may 
see that Pontus is a double sea, resembling the round of a bow 
and its cord. The right of Pontus would present the bow-string, 
drawn straight along, if it were not for Carambis alone, within 
the string, and looking toward the north, for the lefthand way 
it presents the shape of horns, in a double curve like the horns of 
a bow. Toward the north of it the waters of the Mseotic Lake 
pour in. Round about this the Scythians dwell, numberless 
men, who call it the mother of Pontus, for from this the infinite 
water of Pontus is taken straight through Cimmerian Bosporus, 
by which many Cimmerians live under the cold foot of Taurus." 
(LI. 146-68.) In making Satan go north from Eden over Pontus, 
Milton may have had in mind Xenophon's account of the retreat 
of the Ten Thousand, who went north from Mesopotamia to the 
Euxine. 

Portascith. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 288. 

Camden, to whom Milton refers, writes in his account of 
Monmouthshire: "On the astuary near the mouth of the Wye, 
stands Portskeweth, called Portscith by Marianus." (2. 478.) 
The name is now Portskewet. 



238 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Porto Longone. See Longonis Portus. 
Portoricus. Contra Hisp. 7. 360 (twice). 

Porto Rico, one of the greater Antilles, in the West Indies, 
lying east of San Domingo. 

Portskewet. See Portascith. 

Portsmouth. Eikonocl. (2) 3. 350, 355; Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 121; 

(5) 5. 192. 

A seaport of Hampshire, on the Enghsh Channel. Since the 
thirteenth century it has been one of the chief harbors of England. 
Camden writes of it: "In our time Queen Elizabeth at great 
expense fortified it so strongly with new works that nothing 
is wanting to make it a place of the greatest strength." (1. 120). 
The account of the origin of the name from the invader Port is 
taken by Milton from Henry of Huntingdon. (1. 12.) 

Portugal (Lusitania). Eikonocl. (9) 3. 403; (10) 3. 411; Lit. 

Senat. (6) 7. 192 (twice); (10) 7. 196; (14) 7. 199; (16) 7. 200; 

Lit. Oliv. (30) 7. 273; (33) 7. 279; (35) 7. 281; (39) 7. 286; 

(78) 7. 329; Lit. Rich. (10) 7. 340; Sixteen Let. 13 (twice). 

(See also Spain.) 

The country occupying the western portion of the Iberian 
Peninsula. In 1640 it recovered the independence it had lost 
to Spain in 1580. 

Posilipo. See Pausilipum. 
Posnania. Decl. Poland 8. 459. 

A city of Poland on the Varta, a tributary of the Oder. Thu- 
anus (1553-1617) ranked it next to Cracow in importance. 

Possentesburg, Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 161. 

Pontesbury, Shropshire. 
Poulo Rhan. See Pularonis Insula. 

Povensa. Moscovia (1) 8. 476. 

Povienetz, a town near the north end of Lake Onega in north- 
west Russia. "At Povensa there are many warehouses to be 
hired, so that if there were as many goods as ten ships could 
carry away, you might have warehouses to put it in." (Hak. 1. 
368.) Milton's description of the town is from Hak. 1. 367. 

Povienetz. See Povensa. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 239 

Praeneste. Grammar (1) 6. 434. 

A town of Latium, mentioned by Virgil and Horace, now 
Palestrina. 

Promis'd Land. See Canaan. 

Provence. See Provincia. 

Providence. See Providentia. 

Providentia (Catelina). Contra Hisp. 7. 358 (twice), 365. (See 

also Tortuga.) 

Providence, or Old Providence, an island off the Mosquito 
Coast, now belonging to Colombia. It was occupied by the 
English Providence Island Company from 1629 to 1641. The 
name Catelina, instead of Providence, appears on Blaeu's map 
of Insulae Americanae. A small island north of Providence is 
now called Catalina. 

Provincia. Lit. Rich. 7. 339. 

Provence, an old province of southeastern France. 

Prussia (Borussia). Hist. Brit. (5)5. 202; Lit. Senat. (15) 7. 

200; Decl. Poland 8. 462, 466; Moscovia (4) 8. 488. 

Now the largest division of Germany. According to Ortelius 
the region bordering on the Baltic, and included between the 
Vistula and the Niemen. (P. 94.) 

Pskof. See Plesco. 

Puclekerke. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 229. 

Camden, to whom Milton refers in a note, writes: "The Avon 
falling into the Severn, parts the counties of Gloucester and 
Somerset, and not far from its bank is Pucklechurch, formerly a 
royal vill called Pucklekerke." (1. 262.) 

Puerto Rico. See Portoricus. 

Pularonis Insula. Lit. Senat. (44) 7. 234. (See also Banda.) 

Poulo Rhan, one of the isles of Banda, in the Moluccas. It is 
described in Pilgrimes 1. 689 under the name of Poolaroone. 

Punic Coast. P. L. 5. 340; P. R. 3. 102. 

The modern Tunisia, the ancient territory of Carthage. Pliny 
says of one part of it: "Exceeding fertile and plenteous, where 



240 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

the ground sowne yeeldeth againe to the husbandman 100 fold 
encrease." (5. 4.) The Latin term for pomegranate is malum 
Punicum, which Milton may have had in mind when mentioning 
the Punic Coast in connection with fruit. It is true that the 
coast is the fertile part of the country, the interior being less 
productive. 

Purbeck. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 238. 

A peninsula called the Isle of Purbeck, part of Dorsetshire. 

Pustozera. Moscovia (1) 8. 473. 

Pustozersk, a city not far from the mouth of the Pechora 
River, in northern Russia. Gourdon tells how, in going up this 
river, he "came to the Towne of Pustozera, which standeth 
upon a lake." {Pilgrimes 3. 533.) The map of Russia by 
Jenkinson shows Pustozera some distance upstream, on "the 
river spreading to a lake." (Ortelius, p. 99.) 

Pyrene. Eleg. 5. 10. 

The fountain of Pirene, at Corinth, which Pindar calls the 
city of Pirene. {01. 13. 86.) The fountain was connected with 
the Muses by Roman poets, since it was said to have been the 
place where Bellerophon caught Pegasus. 

Pythian Fields. P. L. 2. 530. (See also Delphos.) 

The Crissaean Plain, below Delphi, where the Pythian Games 
were held. The plain was the property of the Delphic priest- 
hood. 

Pythian Vale. See Delphos. 

Quatbrig. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 210. 

Bridgenorth, on the River Severn, Shropshire. 

Queene-Hithe. Animadv. (5. 50) 3. 223. (See also Charing 

Cross.) 

A haven in the city of London where ships landed their 
cargoes. Stow calls it "a large receptacle for shippes, lighters, 
barges and such other vessels." (2. 6.) Milton's reference is 
explained by the ballad entitled The Lamejitahle Fall of Queen 
Eleanor, in which we read that the queen sank into the ground at 
Charing Cross and rose up at Queen-Hi the. {The Roxburghe 
Ballads, Hertford, 1874, vol. 2, p. 73.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 241 

Quiloa. P. L. U. 399. (See also Mozambique.) 

Kilwa-Kisiwani, a seaport on an island ofif the coast of Ger- 
man East Africa. In Purchas it is described after Mozambique: 
"Another Hand, called Quiloa, in quantitie not great, but in 
excellency singular, for it is situate in a very coole and fresh 
Ayre. It is replenished with Trees that are alwaies greene, and 
affordeth all varietie of Victuals. . . . This Hand is inhabited 
with Mahometans also, which are of colour something whitish. 
They are well apparelled, and trimly adorned with Cloath of 
Silke and Cotton. Their Women doe use ornaments of Golde, 
and Jewels about their hands and their necks, and have good 
store of household-stuffe made of Silver. They are not altogether 
so blacke as the men are, and in their limbs they are very well 
proportioned. Their houses are made of Stone, and Lime, and 
Timber, very well wrought, and of good Architecture, with 
Gardens and Orchards, full of Hearbs and sundry Fruits. Of this 
Hand the whole Kingdome tooke the Name, which ... is 
situate in nine degrees toward the South. ... In old time the 
Kingdome of Quiloa was the chiefest of all the Principalities 
there adjoyning, and stood neere to the Sea. But when the 
Portugals arrived in those Countries, the King trusted so much 
to himselfe, that he thought he was able with his owne forces 
not onely to defend himselfe against them, but also to drive them 
from those places which they had already surprised. Howbeit 
the matter fell out quite contrary. For when it came to 
Weapons, he was utterly overthrowne and discomfited by the 
Portugals, and so fled away. But they tooke and possessed the 
Hand, and enriched themselves with the great spoyles and booties 
that they found therein." (Pilgrimes 2. 1023.) Quiloa is men- 
tioned in the Lusiads of Camoens. (1. 99; 10. 26.) 

Quirini Arx. Quint. Nov. 53. 
The citadel of Rome, on the Capitol {q. v.). 

Rabba. P. L. 1. 397. 

A city of Palestine, later known as Philadelphia, in the land 
east of Jordan, on the River Jabbok. It was such an important 
city of the Ammonites, that its name stands for the whole country 
in Jeremiah 49. When Milton wrote of the "watry plain," he 
probably had in mind the fourth verse of this chapter: "Where- 



242 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

fore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding 
daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come 
unto me?" Cf. also 2 Samuel 12. 27. The maps of the period 
place Rabbah as far north as the southern end of the Sea of 
Galilee. Milton uses the Vulgate form, that in the Authorized 
Version being Rabbah or Rabbath. Fuller says the name means 
"great or spacious," which perhaps accounts for Milton's word 
"plain," There are plains in the region of the city, but it was 
itself situated on a high hill. 
Radnorshire. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 115. 

A county of central Wales, bordering on England. 
Ramah. Doct. Christ. (2. 11) 2. 380. 

An ancient city of Palestine, in the land of Zuph, in the hill 
country of Ephraim. It is not certainly identified. 

Ramath-Lechi. Samson 145; MS. 2. 110. 

A place in southern Palestine, the exact situation of which is 
not known. Milton's reference is to the account in Judges 15. 
His spelling of the second component is that of the Vulgate. 
Ramoth. P. R. 1. 373. 

One of the Israelitish cities of refuge in Gilead. Milton's 
reference is to 2 Chronicles 18, 
Ravenna. Reformation (2) 3. 39 (twice); Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 

103. 

A city of northeast Italy, near the Adriatic. It gave its name 
to the surrounding territory, called the Exarchate because ruled 
for a time by an exarch from Byzantium, 
Reading. Hist. Brit, (5) 5, 200; (6) 5, 247, 

Asser, to whom Milton refers in a note, speaks of "the royal 
vill called Reading, situated on the south bank of the Thames 
in the district called Berkshire," (Chap. 35.) 
Reana. See Rhee. 
Red Sea (Erythrean Sea, Rubrum Mare). Ps. 136. 48; Damon. 

185; P, L, 1. 306; 12, 195, 212; P, R, 3, 438, 

The gulf of the Indian Ocean lying between Arabia and Africa. 
Milton may derive his reference to the "scattered sedge afloat" 
from the name of the sea in Hebrew, which means "sedgy sea." 
The idea of "fierce winds" may come from Exodus 14. 21, or 1 
Kings 22. 48, where the ships mentioned may be supposed to 



I 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 243 

have been broken by a storm. In Damon. 185 the "Rubrum 
Mare" is probably to be understood in the ancient sense as the 
Arabian and Persian Gulfs together. 

Remnis. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 116. 

The Remny, a river separating Monmouthshire from Glamor- 
ganshire. The site of the monastery mentioned by Milton was 
unknown to Camden. 

Remny. See Remnis. 

Reno. See Rheno. 

Rependune (Repton). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 203 (thrice). 

Repton, a village in Derbyshire on the Trent. 
Repton. See Rependune. 
Revel. Moscovia (1) 8. 476. 

A seaport of Russia, on the southern shore of the Gulf of 
Finland. It has been an important commercial city since 1238, 
when merchants of the Hanseatic League settled there. The 
English hoped to divert trade from Revel to their own establish- 
ments on the White Sea. (Hak. 1. 300.) 

Rezan. Moscovia (1) 8. 475. 

Riazan, a city of Russia on the River Oka, a tributary of the 
Volga. Jehkinson writes, in describing his journey by water 
from Moscow to Astracan: "We came unto the place where old 
Rezan was situate, being now most of it ruined and overgrowne." 
(Pilgrimes 3. 231.) 

Rhee (Reana). Eikonocl. (9) 3. 400; 7 Prolus. 7. 455. 

An island opposite La Rochelle, in the Bay of Biscay, to which 
in 1627 the English, commanded by the Duke of Buckingham, 
made an unsuccessful expedition. 

Rheims. See Rhemes. 

Rhemes. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 31. 

Rheims, a city of the department of the Marne, France. 
Rhene. See Rhine. 
Rheno. Sonnet 2. 2. 

The Reno, a river of northeastern Italy, which flows near 
Bologna and empties into the Po. 



244 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Rhine. P. L. 1. 353; Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 86; (3) 5. 111. 

A river of Europe rising in Switzerland and flowing into the 
North Sea. Milton's form " Rhene" is close to the Latin Rhenus. 

Rhodes. Areopag. 4. 398; Grammar (2) 6. 480; Logic (1. 14) 
7.46. 
An island off the coast of Smyrna, Asia Minor. 

Rhodope. P. L. 7. 35. 

A mountain-chain on the boundary of Thrace and Macedonia, 
on which there was a great sanctuary of Dionysus. Milton 
refers to the story told by Ovid in Met. 10. 77 fT. 
Riazan. See Rezan. 
Ribla. MS. 2. 111. 

A city on the River Orontes in Syria; it is mentioned in 2 
Kings 25. 6. The geographers of the time of Milton {e. g., Ful- 
ler, p. 100, map) placed it near the Waters of Merom, on the 
course of the Jordan. 

Rical. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 295. 

A towne on the Ouse below York. 

Richborrow. See Rutupiae. 

Riga. Sixteen Let. 14 (thrice). 

A city on the Gulf of Riga, Russia; in Milton's day it was in 
the hands of the Swedes. 

Ringmere. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 250. 

Of unknown situation. Milton depends on Florence of 
Worcester, a.d. 1010. 

Riphaean Mountains. 1 Defens. (5) 6. 99; Moscovia (1) 8. 473. 
The Riphaean Mountains were considered by the Greeks the 
northern limit of the world and fabulous tales were told of them. 
(Aristotle, Meteorology 1. 13.) We read in Virgil: 

Mundus ut ad Scythiam Riphaeasque arduus arces 
Consurgit. 

{Georg. 1. 240-L) 

The geographical writers {e. g., Mela 1. 19) placed these moun- 
tains in the unknown north, beyond babarous Scythia, and made 
them the source of the Tanais (Don) . The confidence of travelers 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 245 

of the sixteenth century in the ancient geographers is shown 
by the attempt of Chancellor to discover these mountains in 
Russia. He says, in a passage partly quoted by Milton: 
"Touching the Riphean mountaines, whereupon the snow lieth 
continually, and where hence in times past it was thought that 
Tanais the river did spring, and that the rest of the wonders of 
nature, which the Grecians fained and invented of olde, were 
there to be scene: our men which lately came from thence 
neither sawe them, nor yet have brought home any perfect rela- 
tion of them, although they remained there for the space of 
three moneths, and had gotten in that time some intelligence 
of the language of Moscovie. The whole Countrey is plaine 
and champion, and few hills in it." (Hak. 1. 248.) 

In 1 Dejens. Milton uses the Riphaean Mountains in connection 
with the Arctic Ocean to indicate a remote and uncivilized land. 
Virgil uses them in much the same way: 

Solus Hyperboreas glacies Tanaimque nivalem 
Arvaque Rhipaeis numquam viduata pruinis 
Lustrabat. 

{Georg.^. 517-9.) 
Ripon. See Ripun. 

Ripun. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 182. 

Ripon, a cathedral town in Yorkshire. 

Roan (Rothomagus). Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 253; Commonplace 245. 
Rouen (Latin, Rotomagi), a city of France on the Seine, once 
the capital of Normandy. 

Rochel. Eikonocl. (2) 3. 353. (See also Rhee.) 

La Rochelle, a seaport of France on the Bay of Biscay. It was 
a stronghold of the Huguenots, taken, in spite of an English 
expedition for its relief, by Richelieu in 1628. 

Rochester (Rotchester). Reformation (2) 3. 41; Hist. Brit. (4) 
5. 142, 146, 153, 164; (5) 5. 192, 206; (6) 5. 240, 243. 
A city of Kent, on the east bank of the Medway. 

Rome (Roma, Roman Empire). Eleg. 6. 27; 2 Prod. Bomb. 8; 
4 Prod. Bomb. 1; 1 Leonor., title; Quint. Nov. 155; Ad Sal. 
21; Damon. 115; Vane 3; P. L. 9. 510, 671; 11. 405; P. R. 
1. 217; 3. 158, 362, 368, 385; 4. 45, 80, 81, 91, 360; Ref- 
ormation (1) 3. 6, 12, 17 (twice), 18, 27; (2) 3. 35, 2,d>, 39, 



246 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

49, 53; Episcopacy 3. 75 (twice), 76, 78 (twice), 79, 82 (twice), 
86 (twice), 87 (twice), 91; Church-gov. (1. Pref.) 3. 96; (1. 6) 
3. 125, 129; (2. Pref.) 3. 145; (2. 3) 3. 158, 160 (twice); 
Animadv. (1. 4) 3. 192; (13. 127) 3. 232; (PS. 166) 3. 245 
(twice); Apology (11) 3. 315 (thrice), 316, 317, 318; (12) 3. 
321 (twice); Eikonocl. (7) 3. 389; (9) 3. 403; (12) 3. 432; 
(15) 3. 452; (27) 3. 507 (twice); (28) 3. 521, 522; Divorce 
(Pref.) 4. 11 (twice); (2. 2) 4. 61; (2. 11) 4. 90; (2. 21) 4. 120, 
124; Tetrach. (Gen. 1. 28) 4. 152; (Gen. 2. 18) 4. 160; (Matt. 

5. 31,32)4. 201; (Matt. 19. 3) 4. 207; (Fathers) 4. 263; Bucer: 
Divorce (15) 4. 307 ; (22) 4.313; (24) 4.317; Colast. 4. 363 ; Areo- 
pag. 4. 402, 440; Kings & Mag. 4. 472, 491; Ormond 4. 561; 
Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 19, 22 (twice) ; (2) 5. 29, 43, 48 (twice), 50, 53 
(twice), 73 (twice), 75, 76, 77, 79 (twice), 84, 92, 93; (3) 99, 
101, 102 (twice), 106; (4) 5. 137, 138, 142, 143, 161, 162, 164, 
167, 169, 171 (twice), 174, 186; (5) 5. 194 (twice), 196, 203, 
213, 221, 231; (6) 5. 265 (twice), 267 (twice), 277, 284, 287, 
294; Civil Power 5. 308, 317; Hirelings 5. 387; Easy Way 5. 
426, 436, 437 (twice), 438; 1 Defens. (3) 6. 57, 68; (5) 6. 108 
(twice); 110 (twice); (6) 6. 124; 2 Defens. 6. 288 (thrice), 289; 
Pro Se Defens. 6. 383, 391; Respons. 6. 419; Grammar (2) 

6. 480 (twice), 485; Logic. (1. 18) 7. 56; (1. 20) 7. 65 (twice); 
(1. 22) 7. 73 (twice); (1. 27) 7. 89; Epist. Fam. (8) 7. 380; 
(9) 7. 382, 383; 5 Prolus. 7. 437, 438; 7 Prolus. 7. 451 (twice); 
Moscovia (4) 8. 499; Doct. Christ. (1. 29) 2. 146, 149; Com- 
monplace 179, 197 (twice), 248. 

Milton's description of Rome in Paradise Regained may be 
supposed to depend on his own observation, for he spent in all 
about four months in Rome, two before going to Naples, and two 
on his return. Of his first visit he writes: "The antiquity of 
that city and its ancient renown held me almost two months; 
and there I enjoyed the society of the most refined, both Lucas 
Holstenius, and other men as learned as they were able." {1 
Defens. (3) 6. 288.) One of his Familiar Letters is addressed to 
Holstenius, who was librarian of the Vatican, and showed Milton 
some of the rare books under his charge. He also introduced 
the poet to Cardinal Barberini, who showed Milton attention at 
a concert given at his palace, and later granted a private inter- 
view. Here, or elsewhere in Rome, Milton heard the singing of 
Leonora Baroni, to whom he addressed three short Latin poems. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 247 

Another acquaintance was the Roman poet Salsillus, to whom 
he addressed a Latin poem, and with whom he seems to have 
walked about the city. Of his visit after his return from Naples 
Milton writes: "The merchants warned me that they had 
learnt by letters that snares were being laid for me by the 
English Jesuits, if I should return to Rome, on the ground that 
I had spoken too freely concerning religion. For I had made 
this resolution with myself: not, indeed, of my own accord to 
introduce in those places conversation about religion, but if 
interrogated respecting the faith, then, whatsoever I should 
suffer, to dissemble nothing. To Rome, therefore, I did return, 
notwithstanding what I had been told. What I was, if any one 
asked, I concealed from no one; if anyone, in the very City of 
the Pope, attacked the orthodox religion, I, as before, for a second 
space of nearly two months, defended it most freely." {2 Defens. 
6. 288, trans. Masson.) One incident of his visit is given by 
the following entry in the Travellers' Book of the English College 
at Rome: "The 30th of October there dined in our college, and 
were hospitably received, the following English gentlemen: the 
most distinguished Mr. N. Cary, brother of Lord Falkland, Dr. 
Holding of Lancaster, Mr. N. Fortescue, and Mr. Milton, with 
his servant." (Masson, Life of Milton I. 800.) On the life of 
the city Milton speaks but once, mentioning the quacks and 
venders of nostrums he saw in the streets. (Pro Se Defens. 6. 
383.) 

What Milton was likely to have seen can be learned from 
the Diary of John Evelyn, who visited Rome six years later. 
Perhaps Milton, as a Puritan, would have been more hostile 
than Evelyn to much that he saw. The following is Evelyn's 
description of a visit to the Vatican Library: "This Library is 
the most nobly built, furnish'd, and beautified of any in the 
world; ample, stately, light, and cherefull, looking into a most 
pleasant garden. The walls and roofe are painted, not with 
antiques and grotescs, like our Bodleian at Oxford, but emblems, 
figures, diagrams, and the like learned inventions, found out by 
the wit and industry of famous men, of which there are now whole 
volumes extant. There were likewise the effigies of the most 
illustrious men of letters and fathers of the Church, with divers 
noble statues in white marble at the entrance, viz. Hippolitus 
and Aristides. The Generall Councils are painted on the side 
17 



248 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

walls. As to the ranging of the bookes, they are all shut up in 
presses of wainscot, and not expos'd on shelves to the open ayre, 
nor are the most precious mix'd amongst the more ordinary, 
which are show'd to the curious onely; such as are those two 
Virgils written in parchment, of more then a thousand yeares old; 
the like a Terence; the Acts of the Apostles in golden capital 
letters; Petrarch's Epigrams, written with his owne hand; also 
an Hebrew parchment made up in the ancient manner, from 
whence they were first call'd Volumnia, with the Cornua; but 
what w^e English do much enquire after, the booke which our 
Hen. VHI writ against Luther. The longest roome is 100 paces 
long; at the end is the gallery of printed books: then the gallery 
of the D. of Urbans librarie, in which are MSS. of remarkable 
miniature, and divers China, Mexican, Samaritan, Abyssin, and 
other Oriental books. In another wing of the edifice, 200 paces 
long, were all the bookes taken from Heidelburg, of which the 
learned Gruter and other greate scholars had been keepers. 
These walls and volto are painted with representations of the 
machines invented by Domenico Fontana for erection of the 
obelisqs; and the true designe of Mahomet's sepulchre at Mecca." 
(Jan. 18, 1645.) 

Rose Island. Moscovia (1) 8. 472. 

Rose Island, in the estuary of the Dwina, "was separated 
from the mainland, on which stood the monastery of St. Nicholas, 
by the narrow, southernmost mouth of the Dwina, called in old 
documents Malokurje." {Early Voyages to Russia, Hak. Soc, 
p. 191.) Milton's description is quoted with little change from 
the passage to which he refers, Hak. 1. 365. 

Rost Islands. Moscovia (5) 8. 503. 

The name is now applied to a single srnall island, the southern- 
most of the Lofoten chain, off the western coast of Norway, south 
of the Maelstrom. Milton's source is Hak. 1. 235, 310. 

Rostove. Moscovia (1) 8. 474. 

Rostow, a city of Russia northeast of Moscow, It is mentioned 
in Hak. 1. 312, to which Milton refers in a note. 

Rotchester. See Rochester. 
Rothomagus. See Roan. 
Rouen. See Roan. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 249 

Rubrum Mare. See Red Sea. 

Russia (Moscovia, Muscovy). P. L. 10. 431; 11. 394; Areopag. 

4. 437; Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 127 (twice); Lit. Oliv. (46) 7. 296; 

Decl. Poland 8. 462, 465, 466; Moscovia (Pref.) 8. 470 (thrice); 

(1) 8. 471, 474, 481; (2) 8. 482, 484; (3) 8. 488; (4) 8. 488, 

489 (twice), 490, 491 (thrice), 492 (4 times), 498, 499, 500 

(twice), 501; (5) 8. 502 (twice), 505, 507, 510, 511, 512, 515; 

Commonplace 112. 

Milton gives the bounds of Russia, considerably less than 
those of the present Russia in Europe, at the beginning of 
Moscovia. 

Russian Sea. Moscovia (1) 8. 481. 

The reference, as a note indicates, is from Hak. 1. 252. The 
Russian Sea is the part of the Arctic Ocean adjoining the "North 
parts of Russia." 

Rutupiae (Richborrow, Haven Trutulensis). Damon. 162; Hist. 

Brit. (2) 5. 72, 86, 87. 

Camden, to whom Milton refers, says in his description of 
Kent: "At the southern mouth of the Wantsum . . . stood 
a city called by Ptolomy Rhutupiae, by Tacitus Portus Trutu- 
lensis, . . . now Richborow. . . . The greatest consequence of 
this place was in the time of the Romans. From hence was the 
most usual passage into Britain, and the Roman fleets made this 
port." (1. 217.) Camden quotes from Juvenal: 

Rhutupinove edita funda 
Ostrea. {Satires 4. 69.) 

Also from Lucan: 

Aut vaga cum Thetis Rhutupinaque littora fervent. 

{Pharsalia 6. 67.) 
Ruvo. Commonplace 189. 
A town in Apulia, Italy. 

Sabaean. See Sabean. 

Sabaudia (Allobrogum Ducatus). Lit. Oliv. (9) 7. 248; (10) 7. 
249 (twice); (11) 7. 250, 251 (twice); (12) 7. 252 (twice); (13) 
7. 253 (twice), 254; (15) 7. 255, 256; (16) 7. 257; (67) 7. 317; 
(68) 7. 319; (69) 7. 320; Sixteen Let. 1 (4 times), 16. (See 
also Piemont.) 



250 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Savoy, a mountainous region, now part of France, bordering 
on Italy. In the time of Milton it was ruled by the dukes of 
Savoy, also called the dukes of the Allobroges, from the Latin 
name of the ancient inhabitants of the region. The Waldenses 
or Vaudois had their home there. 

Sabean (Sabsean). Comus 996 (according to the Cambridge 
MS. "Sabaean" was first written, then "Elysian" substituted); 
P. L. 4. 162. (See also Arabia.) 
Pertaining to Sheba, the land of the Sabeans, in Arabia Felix, 

usually identified with Yemen, in southeast Arabia. For the 

fame of its spices see 2 Chronicles 9. 9. 

Sabini. Quint. Nov. 50. 

An ancient Italian people living north of Latium. 
Sabrina. See Severn. 
Saint Albanes. See Verulam. 
Saint Angelo. Areopag. 4. 427. 

The Castle of Saint Angelo, or Mole of Hadrian, is a great 
circular building at Rome,' near the Vatican, for years a papal 
fortress. 

Saint Croix. See Sancta Crux. 
Saint Hugh. Areopag. 4. 433. 

Apparently a reference to a church, but there was never a 
church of that name in London. See Hales' note in his edition 
of the Areopagitica, pp. 131, 153. 

Saint Jean de Luz. See Joannis de Luz. 
Saint Martin. Areopag. 4. 433. 

Saint Martin le Grand, a church in London. Cheap articles, 
such as beads and lace, were manufactured in its neighborhood. 

Saint Nicholas. Moscovia (1) 8. 472, 473, 474 (twice); 476 

(thrice); (5) 8. 505, 510, 511, 515. 

A town, seldom represented on modern maps, situated on the 
shore of the White Sea, at the west side of the estuary of the 
Dwina, as is shown by Jenkinson's maps of Russia. (Ortelius, 
p. 99.) The White Sea was called by Jenkinson the Bay of Saint 
Nicholas. (Hak. 1. 311.) Milton, as he indicates by a note, 
took his account of the Abbey of Saint Nicholas from Hak. 1. 376. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 251 

1. Saint Thomas. Areopag. 4. 433. 

The older name of the Mercers' chapel in Cheapside, London. 

2. Saint Thomas. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 213. 

The shrine of St. Thomas the Apostle is at Myalpur, three 
miles south of Madras, India. William of Malmesbury, Milton's 
authority, gives two accounts of the journey of Sigelm, both of 
which are in Hakluyt. One of them is as follows: "Sighelmus 
being for the performance of the kings almes sent beyond the seas, 
and travailing unto S. Thomas of India, very prosperously (which 
a man would wonder at in this age) passed through the sayde 
countrey of India, and returning home brought with him divers 
strange and precious stones, such as that Climate affourdeth. 
Many of which stones are as yet extant in the monuments of the 
Church." (2. 1. 5.) Marco Polo also gives a description of 
the shrine. 

Saint Valerie. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 295, 296. 

A seaport of France, on the English Channel at the mouth of 
the Somme. 

Salamanca. Apology (10) 3. 310. 

A city of western Spain, famous for its university, which in 
the Middle Ages gave the city the name of "mother of virtues, 
sciences, and arts." 

Salamis. Divorce (2. 11) 4. 90; Logic (1. 33) 7. 102 (thrice). 

An island of Greece, in the Saronic Gulf, opposite the harbor 
of Athens. The bay between Salamis and Attica was the scene 
of the battle of Salamis. 

1. Salem. P. R. 2. 21. 

A place west of Jordan near Mnon, where John the Baptist 
baptised. (John 3. 23.) The name is usually given as Salim. 
Milton's spelling may be explained by an identification of the 
place with the Salem of Genesis 14. 18 (Adrichomius, p. 74), 
mentioned in Hirelings 5. 348. 

2. Salem. Hirelings 5. 348; MS. 2. 109. (See also 3. Salem.) 
Of unknown situation; sometimes identified with Jerusalem. 

It is mentioned in Genesis 14. 18. 

3. Salem. See Jerusalem. 
Salim. See 1. Salem. 



252 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Salisbury. See Salsbury. 

Salmurium (Saumur). Epist. Fam. (24) 7. 403 (twice); (25) 

7. 404; Doct. Christ.. (1. 5) 1. 162. 

The Latin form of Saumur, a town of France on the Loire, 
celebrated for its trade in wines. 

Salonica. See Thessalonica. 

Salsbury (Sarum, Searesbirig). Animadv. (PS. 164) 3. 245; 

Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 128; (6) 5. 246; MS. 2. 112. 

Old Sarum, two miles north of modern Salisbury. It was 
once an important city, but now only ruins remain. Camden 
calls it " a small village." (1. 90.) 

Salymon. See Jerusalem. 
Samarchand. P. L. 11. 389. 

A city of central Asia, now under the rule of Russia. It is 
situated on the Zerafshan, which flows into the basin of the 
Oxus (Amu Daria) and loses itself in the sand without joining 
the Oxus. The city is, as Milton says, famous as the capital 
of Temir, or Tamburlaine. Purchas presents the following 
narratives: "Tamburlane returned to Samercand, in which 
citie he delighted greatly to remayne, because the situation 
thereof was very faire; and for that the citie is accompanied 
with a faire River, which causeth great Traffique, and maketh it 
richer than any Citie within that Countrey." {Pilgrimes 3. 142.) 
"We arrived at the last at Samarcand with all our spoyles in 
very great magnificence, where after we had been the space of 
one moneth or two in Feastings and Magnificences, the Emperour 
with his accustomed Devotion having vowed a Church and 
Hospitall unto his God, the most magnificent that might bee 
devised. Whereupon to performe the same, he began to search 
out all sorts of Handicraftsmen for to honour this Citie, the which 
hee had a desire to make one of the stateliest Cities in the World. 
And in one of the corners thereof he began, and did build there 
his Temple and Hospitall, making an account to increase yet 
this Citie as large againe as it was, and to people the same with 
so many severall kinds of people and Nations as he had brought 
with him, giving libertie unto them all to frame and build their 
Houses, causing money to be distributed to do the same, and 
giving all kinds of Priviledges and Freedomes unto the Prisoners, 
for to give them a greater desire to build, and settle themselves 



A GEOGR^^PHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 253 

there, and having caused the streets and places to be plotted, 
and having appointed a place for every one to build upon." 
{lb. 3. 160.) The map-makers of Milton's time often put on 
their maps some such legend as "Samarchand magni Tamberlanis 
regia." If "Samarchand by Oxus" means on the Oxus, Milton 
seems to have no justification in the geography of his time, 
though the city often appears on a tributary of the Oxus. Sebas- 
tian Munster places it on the Jaxartes. {Cosmography, Basel, 
1628, p. 1456.) The same thing is done by Marlowe, in a passage 
showing the fame of the city of Temir in Europe; Tamberlaine 
speaks : 

Then shal my native city, Samarcanda, 

And cristall waves of fresh Jaertis streame. 

The pride and beautie of her princely seat. 

Be famous through the furthest continents. 

For there my Pallace royal shall be placed, 

Whose shyning Turrets shal dismay the heavens, 

And cast the fame of Ilion's Tower to hell. 

Thorow the streets with troops of conquered kings. 

He ride in golden armour like the Sun . . . 

So will I ride through Samarcanda streets. 

(2 Tamburlaine 4086-4109.) 

Samaria (Samaritid^e Ora?). Eleg. 4. 115; P. R. 3. 359; Hire- 
lings 5. 368; Doct. Christ. (1. 29) 2. 147; (1.30) 2. 175, 178; 
(1. 31) 2. 182; MS. 2. 111. 
The portion of Palestine north of Judea and south of Galilee, 

and its chief city. The reference in Eleg. 4 is to 1 Kings 20. 

Samaritidae Orae. See Samaria. 

Samoedia (Samoed Shore). P. L. 10. 696; Moscovia (2) 8. 482 

(twice). 

The part of northeastern Russia, and the neighboring part of 
Siberia, inhabited by the Samoeds, extending south from the 
Arctic Ocean to the region of settled habitation. Milton's 
knowledge of the Samoeds, as he indicates by notes, came from 
Pilgrimes 3. 522, 546, 555. On Jenkinson's map of Russia, 
Samoedia extends from the White Sea eastward. 

Samoed Shore. See Samoedia. 
Samogitia. Decl. Poland 8. 466. 

A part of Poland on the Baltic, south of Livonia and north 
of the Niemen River. 



254 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Samos. Eleg. 6. 59; P. L. 5. 265. (See also Delos.) 

A large island of the /Egean Sea, one of the Sporades. Ovid 
connects it with Delos in the lines : 

Et jam Junonia laeva 
Parte Samos, fuerant Delosque Parosque relictae. 

{Met. 8. 220-L) 

Masson comments on P. L. 5. 265 as follows: "The construction' 
is 'or pilot kens Delos or Samos first appearing from amidst the 
Cyclades as a cloudy spot.' Keightley pointed out {Life of 
Milton, p. 430) that Milton has here, by a slip of memory, fallen 
into a geographical error, Samos not being one of the Cyclades, 
but one of the Asiatic group at a distance from them in the 
same archipelago. Nor will this error be obviated by the reading 
which would interpret as follows : ' or pilot, coming from amidst 
the Cyclades, kens Delos or Samos first appearing as a cloudy 
spot;' for, though that might suit for Samos, it would not for 
Delos, which is one of the Cyclades. The only reconciliation 
would be by supposing that Milton used the name Cyclades 
generally for all the islands of the archipelago." If it is necessary 
to try to save the accuracy of the poet, it might be possible to 
take the phrase "from amidst the Cyclades" as referring only 
to "Delos," the noun nearest it. The island was the birthplace 
of Pythagoras. 

Samothea. See Britain. 

Sancta Crux. Contra Hisp. 7. 360. 

Saint Croix, one of the Virgin Islands, now belonging to the 
United States. 

Sanctum Dominicum. Contra Hisp. 7. 355, 356, 361. 

San Domingo, the one of the Greater Antilles just east of 
Cuba; in Milton's time under Spanish rule, 

Sandimer. Decl. Poland 8. 459. 

Sandomierz, Sandomir, or Sedomierz is a town of Poland on 
the Vistula. 

San Domingo. See Sanctum Dominicum. 

Sandwich. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 72; (5) 5. 193; (6) 5. 247, 248, 249, 
252, 254, 255, 256, 276 (twice), 277 (twice), 282 (twice), 283, 
293, 294, 295. (See also Rutupiae.) 



I 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 255 

Camden says of Sandwich, a city of Kent near the site of the 
Roman city of Rutupiae: "This is one of the cinque ports, as 
they are called, and is defended on the north and west by walls, 
on the other sides by a rampart, river, and ditch. It formerly 
felt the ravages of the Danes, and in the last age the fire of 
the French. It is now sufficiently populous, though the harbour 
... is not capable of admitting large ships." (1. 218.) 

Sardis. Church-gov. (1. 6) 3. 127. 

A city of Lydia, Asia Minor, on the River Pactolus. Milton 
is referring to Revelation 3. 1. 

Sarepta. Doct. Christ. (2. 16) 2. 443. 

A city of Sidonia between Tyre and Sidon. See 1 Kings 17. 
8-24. 

Sarmatians. P. R. 4. 78. 

Inhabitants of the region defined by Mela as east of Ger- 
many, bounded on the east by the Vistula, on the south by the 
Danube. 

Sarra. See Tyre. 

Sarum. See Salsbury. 

Saumur. See Salmurius. 

Savoy. See Sabaudia. 

Saxon Shore. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 110. 

The coast of Britain from the Wash to the Isle of Wight 
was known to the Romans as the Saxon Shore. The Notitia 
Dignitatum, to which Milton refers in a note, gives a list of 
fortresses built on the coast. 

Saxony. Eleg. 4. 74; Mansus 84; Kings & Mag. 4. 473; Hist. 

Brit. (3) 5. Ill, 113, 120, 127; Commonplace 112. 

The name in Hist. Brit, is always qualified with the adjective 
"old." Milton defines it as "all that Coast of Germany and 
the Nether-lands, . . . lying between the Rhene and Elve, 
and from thence North as far as Eidora, the River bounding 
Holsatia." He also speaks of it as "at this day Holstein in 
Denmark." The Saxony of the time of Milton was a district 
in Thuringia and the lands to the eastward, with its capital at 
Wittenberg. 



256 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Scaldis. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 15 (twice). 

The River Scheldt, which rises in northeast France, flows 
through Belgium and the Netherlands, and empties into the 
North Sea. 

Scandal, Hill of. See Opprobrious Hill. 

Scarborow. Eikonocl. (18) 3. 469. 
A seaport of Yorkshire, England. 

Scheldt. See Scaldis. 

Schleswig. See Sleswich. 

Schmalkalden. See Smalcaldia. 

Scilcester. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 179. 

Identified with Chesters, near Chollerton, Northumbria. 

Scorastan. See Sheraston. 

Scotch Borders. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 223. 

The land along the boundary of England and Scotland. 

Scotland (Albania, Albany, Caledonia, North, Scotia). Forcers 
of Consc. 12; Fairfax 7; Quint. Nov. 4; Mansus 48; Reforma- 
tion (1) 3. 7, 14 (twice); (2) 3. 54, 55; Animadv. (1. 2) 3. 189; 
(1. 8) 3. 195; Eikonocl. (1) 3. 339; (2) 3. 348; (4) 3. 360 
(twice), 367; (8) 3. 390; (12) 3. 430, 432 (thrice); (13) 3. 441 
(twice); (13) 3. 444; (15) 3. 452; (28) 3. 529; Kings & Mag. 
4. 474, 475 (twice), 476, 482, 493; Ormond 4. 575, 576, 577 
(thrice); Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 13, 14, 17, 20, 21; (2) 5. 78, 
82, 89; (3) 5. 103; (4) 5. 147, 153; (5) 5. 195, 196 (twice), 
220, 222, 223, 224, 234; (6) 5. 266, 284, 285; Hirelings 5. 387; 
Notes: Grif. 5. 396, 399; Easy Way 5. 422, 427; 1 Defens. 
(1) 6. 24; (8) 6. 141; (10) 6. 166; (11) 6. 172, 174; Moscovia 
(5) 8. 508; Commonplace 186 (twice), 188, 245; Sixteen 
Let. 16. 

Scylla (Whirlpool). Comus 257; P. L. 2. 660, 1020; Animadv. 

(4. 45) 3. 216. (See also Charybdis.) 

A rock on the Calabrian shore of the Straits of Messina. 
Homer writes: "'On the other part are two rocks, whereof the 
one reaches with sharp peak to the wide heaven, and a dark 
cloud encompasses it; this never streams away, and there is 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 257 

no clear air about the peak neither in summer nor in harvest tide. 
No mortal man may scale it or set foot thereon, not though he 
had twenty hands and feet. For the rock is smooth and sheer, 
as it were polished. And in the midst of the cliff is a dim cave 
turned to Erebus, towards the place of darkness, whereby ye 
shall even steer your hollow ship, noble Odysseus. Not with an 
arrow from a bow might a man in his strength reach from his 
hollow ship into that deep cave. And therein dwelleth Scylla, 
yelping terribly. Her voice indeed is no greater than the voice 
of a new-born whelp, but a dreadful monster is she, nor would 
any look on her gladly, not if it were a god that met her. Verily 
she hath twelve feet all dangling down, and six necks exceeding 
long, and on each a hideous head, and therein three rows of teeth 
set thick and close, full of black death. Up to her middle is she 
sunk far down in the hollow cave, but forth she holds her heads 
from the dreadful gulf, and there she fishes, swooping round the 
rock, for dolphins or sea-dogs, or whatso greater beast she may 
anywhere take, whereof the deep-voiced Amphitrite feeds count- 
less flocks. Thereby no sailors boast that they have fled scathe- 
less ever with their ship, for with each head she carries off a 
man, whom she hath snatched from out the dark-prowed ship. 
But that other cliff, Odysseus, thou shalt note, lying lower, 
hard by the first: thou couldest send an arrow across. And 
thereon is a great fig-tree growing, in fullest leaf, and beneath 
it mighty Charybdis sucks down black water. . . . But take 
heed and swiftly drawing nigh to Scylla's rock drive the ship 
past, since of a truth it is far better to mourn six of thy company 
in the ship, than all in the selfsame hour.' ... I paced the ship 
and cheered on my men, as I stood by each one and spake smooth 
words: ... 'Do ye smite the deep surf of the sea with your 
oars, as ye sit on the benches, if peradventure Zeus may grant 
us to escape from and shun this death. And as for thee, helms- 
man, thus I charge thee, and ponder it in thine heart seeing that 
thou wieldest the helm of the hollow ship. Keep the ship well 
away from this smoke and from the wave and hug the rocks, lest 
the ship, ere thou art aware, start from her course to the other 
side, and so thou hurl us into ruin.' . . . Next we began to sail 
up the narrow strait lamenting. For on the one hand lay 
Scylla, and on the other mighty Charybdis. . . . Toward her, 
then, we looked fearing destruction; but Scylla meanwhile 



258 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

caught from out my hollow ship six of my company, the hardiest 
of their hands and the chief in might." {Odyssey 12. 73-246.) 
Odysseus, who was going south from Circe's Island (g. v.), 
steered to the larboard, thus shunning Charybdis by going close 
to Scylla. Sandys, who passed through the straits, says: "We 
came unto Scylla, which is not past twelve miles distant from 
Messina: seated in the midst of a Bay, upon the neck of a narrow 
Mountain which thrust it self into the Sea; having at the upper- 
most end a steep high Rock whereon there standeth a Castle. . . . 
And no doubt but the Fable was fitted to the place ; there being 
divers little sharp Rocks at the foot of the greater (the Dogs that 
so bark with the noise that is made by the repercussed waters) 
frequented by Lamprons, and greater fishes that devoured the 
bodies of the drowned." (P. 193.) See also Strabo 1.2. 15-6. 

The reference to Scylla as a whirlpool (P. L. 2. 1020) is un- 
usual; Professor Cook, in his edition of P. L. 1 and 2, refers to 
Ovid, Met. 14. 51, where it is said that Scylla was wont to visit 
a small whirlpool, where her transformation took place. 

Scythia. Vacat. Ex. 99; Eleg. 4. 11; P. R. 3. 301; 4. 78; Hist. 

Brit. (2) 5. 74, 82; (3) 5. 110; Decl. Poland 8. 462, 463. (See 

also Imaus.) 

Scythia is an ill-defined term applied to the parts of Europe 
and Asia inhabited by nomads, extending from the plains of 
Russia to China. See Mela 1.2, etc. 

Searesbirig. See Salsbury. 

Seav'nburg. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 254. (See also Fisburg.) 

The Five Danish Boroughs with the addition of York and 
Chester. 

Secandune. See Seckinton. 

Sechem. See Shechem. 

Seckinton (Secandune). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 175. 

A place in Warwickshire. Camden says it flourished in Saxon 
times, but was in his time almost gone. (2. 331.) 

Seeland. See Selandica Castra. 

Seinam (Zeinam). Moscovia (5) 8. 504, 508. 

The island of Senjen, off the west coast of Norway. Jenkinson 
writes: "We fell with an Island called Zenam, being in the latitude 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 259 

of 70 degrees. About this Island we saw many whales, very 
monstrous, about our ships, some by estimation of 60 foot long: 
and being the ingendring time they roared and cried terriblie." 
(Hak. 1. 311.) The information that Seinam is under the king 
of Denmark is from Willoughby's narrative. (Hak. 1. 235.) 

Selandica Castra. Lit. Oliv. (65) 7. 314. 

Seeland, or Zealand, a large island, part of Denmark, lying at 
the entrance of the Baltic. In 1658 Charles X of Sweden occu- 
pied it with his army. 

Seletune. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 177. 
Now Silton, Yorkshire. 

Seleucia. P. L. 4. 212; P. R. 3. 291. (See also Telassar.) 

An ancient ruined city on the Tigris, below Bagdad. Pliny 
writes as follows: "Babylon is now growne into decay and lyeth 
waste and unpeopled, by reason that Seleucia the cittie standeth 
so neere it, which hath drawne from it all resort and trafifick: 
. and was for that purpose built by Nicator within 40 myles of it, 
in the verie confluent where the new arme of Euphrates is brought 
by a ditch to meet with Tigris: notwithstanding, surnamed it is 
Babylonia, a free state at this day and subject to no person: 
howbeit they live after the lawes and manners of the Mace- 
donians. And by report, in this citie there are 600,000 citizens. 
As for the walls thereof, by report they do resemble an Eagle 
spreading her wings: and for the soile, there is not a territorie in 
all the East parts comparable to it in fertilitie." (6. 26.) In 
6. 14 he speaks of it as "Great Seleucia," to distinguish it from 
other lesser cities of the same name. 

Selwood. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 205. 
A forest of Somersetshire. 

Senaar. P. L. 3. 467. 

Explained by Bochart (p. 27) as an alternative form for Shinar. 
It is usually identified with Babylonia. See Genesis 11.2. 

Senir. See Hermon. 

Senjen. See Seinam. 



260 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Seon's Realme (Amorrean Coast). Ps. 136. 36; P. L. 1. 409. 

(See also Arnon.) 

Spelled Sehon in the Vulgate and Sihon in the Authorized 
Version. According to Numbers 21. 24, the land of Sihon, king 
of the Amorites, stretched along the east side of the Dead Sea 
and the Jordan from the River Arnon on the south to the Jabbok 
on the north. The land directly north of the Arnon had formerly- 
been in the possession of the king of Moab, and had been taken 
from him by Sihon. Milton writes as if "Seons Realme" 
(Hesebon and Horonaim) were still part of Moab, as is suggested 
in Jeremiah 48, and Isaiah 15. "Seons Realme" was the more 
easily included in Moab because the Israehtes, while encamping 
on land taken from Sihon, worshipped Baal-peor, identified in 
P. LA. 412 with Chemosh the god of Moab. Fuller writes of the 
part of the kingdom called the plains of Moab, as follows: 
"Nor need any wonder why the plain is so called, seeing Moab 
had nothing on the north of Arnon (after the time of Moses), 
when they recollect how lately all this land was possessed by the 
Moabites, before Sihon forcibly expelled them (Num. 21. 26)." 
(Pp. 71-2.) If Milton in P. L. 1.399 makes the Arnon {q.v.) the 
southern boundary of Ammon, he includes "Seons Realme" in 
its territory. Fuller explains that the Ammonites had occupied 
the land until driven out by Sihon when he dispossessed the 
Moabites. (P. 76.) After Sihon was conquered the land passed 
to the tribe of Gad. Fuller elsewhere adds: "We must not 
forget that after the tribe of Gad was carried away captive by 
Tiglath-pileser, the Ammonites seized on and dwelt in the cities 
of that tribe. For which reason so many of them are set down 
in this our map. This caused the complaint of the prophet: 
'Hath Israel no sons? Hath he no heir? Why then doth their 
king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?' (Jer. 49. 1)." 
(P. 461.) Perhaps, however, Milton merely had in mind the 
usual, but incorrect, representation of the Ammonites as near 
the head of the Arnon. 

Septonia. See Shaftsbury. 

Serbonian Bog. P. L. 2. 592. 

A morass with a lake in its centre, lying between the eastern 
angle of the delta of the Nile, Mount Casius, the Isthmus of 
Suez, and the Mediterranean. It is now smaller than in an- 
tiquity. Diodorus gives the most important description of it: 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 261 

"Those parts [of Egypt] towards the east are partly secured by 
the river, and partly surrounded by the deserts and by the 
marshes called the Barathra. For there is a lake between Coelo- 
Syria and Egypt, very narrow, but exceeding deep, even to a 
wonder, two hundred furlongs in length, called Serbon: if any 
through ignorance approach it, they are lost irrecoverably; for 
the channel being very narrow, like a swaddling-band, and com- 
passed round with vast heaps of sand, great quantities of it are 
cast into the lake by the continued southern winds, which so 
cover the surface of the water, and make it to the view like dry 
land, that it cannot possibly be distinguished; and therefore 
many, unacquainted with the nature of the place, by missing 
their way, have been there swallowed up, together with whole 
armies. For the sand, being trod upon, sinks down, and gives 
way by degrees, and like a malicious cheat, deludes and decoys 
them that come upon it till, too late, when they see the mischief 
they are likely to fall into, they begin to support and help one 
another, but without any possibility either of returning back, or 
escaping certain ruin; for sinking into the gulf, they are neither 
able to swim (the mud preventing all motion of the body) nor 
in a capacity to wade out, having nothing firm to support them 
for that purpose; for sand and water being mixed together, the 
nature of both is thereby so changed that there is neither fording 
nor passing over it by boats. Being brought therefore to this 
pass, without the least possibility of help to be afforded them, 
they go together with the sand to the bottom of the gulf, at the 
very brink of the bog; and so the place, agreeable to its nature, 
is called Barathrum." (1. 86.) Compare P. L. 2. 939-42. 

Sericana. P. L. 3. 438. (See also Cathay, Imaus.) 

The usual form of this word is Serica; the form Sericana is 
used by Ariosto and Boiardo. The latter writes of Gradasso, 
king of Sericana: "There was reigning in the parts of the east, 
near India, a great king in royal dignity, in state and in riches 
so abounding, and so powerful of body that all the world was 
not sufficient for him." (Orlando Innamorato I. 1. 4:.) The basis 
of later accounts of Serica is Ptolemy. Purchas writes: "They 
have this name of Sera the chiefe Citie, by Ptolemy placed in 
177.15 and 38.36. This Region he limiteth on the West with 
Scythia extra Imaum: on the East with Terra incognita and 
likewise on the North (here some place the Promontorie Tabin, 



262 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

there the Easterne Ocean) ; on the South with part of India 
extra Gangem. Our silkes have the name of this Region, where 
it is made of a most fine wooll, growing on the leaves of trees. 
. . . This Serica Castaldus calleth Cataio: and so doe most of 
our new writers." (Pilgrimage, p. 452.) The "barren plains "are 
perhaps the desert of Lop or Gobi, of which Marco Polo writes: 
"The Desert of Lop ... is situated between east and north- 
east. It belongs to the Great Kaan, and the people worship 
Mahommet. Now, such persons as propose to cross the Desert 
take a week's rest in this town to refresh themselves and their 
cattle; and then they make ready for the journey, taking with 
them a month's supply for man and beast. . . . The length of 
this Desert is so great that 'tis said it would take a year and more 
to ride from one end of it to the other. And here, where its 
breadth is least, it takes a month to cross it. 'Tis all composed 
of hills and valleys of sand, and not a thing to eat is to be found 
on it." . . . There is a marvelous thing related of this Desert, 
which is that when travelers are on the move by night, and one 
of them chances to lag behind or to fall asleep or the like, when 
he tries to gain his company again he will hear spirits talking, 
and will suppose them to be his comrades. Sometimes the 
spirits will call him by name; and thus shall a traveler ofttimes 
be led astray so that he never finds his party. And in this way 
many have perished." (Pp. 196-7.) Cf. the reference to this 
phenomenon in Comus 205-9. Cf. Pliny 7. 2. Stories of airy 
monsters in the Sahara (see Africa) are of the same nature. 

Dionysius Periegetes writes of the "barbarous nations of the 
Seres, who spurn cattle and goodly sheep and, preparing the 
variegated flowers of the uninhabited land as other nations 
prepare wool, make garments of many colors, costly, like in color 
to the flowers of the plants of the meadows, and no work of 
spiders may vie with them." (LI. 752-7.) 

The quotation from Purchas shows how the vulture flying 
from Imaus to India "in his way lights on the barren plaines of 
Sericana." Mela represented the Seres as inhabiting the middle 
portion of the east, with the Indians to the south, and the 
Scythians, often associated with Mount Imaus, to the north. 
Since Milton mentions "Chineses" as riding on the plains of 
Sericana, he must, if he thought Sericana the same as Cathay, 
have here identified Cathay and China, which elsewhere he 
distinguishes. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 263 

Wagons driven by the wind are often mentioned in works on 
China. Mendoza writes thus: "They have amongst them 
many coches and wagons that goe with sailes and made with 
such industrie and policie that they do govern them with great 
ease: this is crediblie informed by many that have seen it: besides 
that there be many in the Indies, and in Portugall, that have seene 
them painted upon Clothes, and on their earthen vessell that is 
brought from thence to be solde." {History of China, Hak. 
Soc, 1. 32.) Masson, in his note on the passage, cites Bertius 
and Heylyn, and Pierre Davity twice mentions the wagons 
driven by the wind. A passage in Ortehus may be translated: 
"This people is very ingenious, so much so that they plan and 
make wagons which they know very well how to guide, with sails 
and wind, like boats through the sea, through fields and level 
places." (P. 101.) On his map of China he represents four of 
these wagons, under full sail, and loaded with passengers. 
Mercator, on his map of China, shows one of them, and beneath 
the picture puts the same words as are given by Ortelius. 

Sermoneta. See Sulmo. 
Serraliona. P. L. 10. 703. 

Sierra Leone is a cape on the west coast of Africa, in about 
eight degrees of north latitude. In the time of Milton it was a 
common stopping-place for ships on the voyage to the East 
Indies or to South America. A sailor who went to Brazil in 
1586 writes: "We were sailing between England and the coast 
of Guinea from the 21 day of July unto the 26 day of August 
unto the haven called Sierra leona, where we watered and stayed 
untill the 6 day of September." (Hak. 3. 833.) Milton's 
spelling, especially in making one word of the two, is unusual. 

Setia. P. R. 4. 117. 

An ancient city of Latium, famous for its wine. (Martial 
13. 23, etc.) 

Severia. Decl. Poland 8. 458, 466. 

Severia, or Tchernigov, is a government of southwest Russia on 
the east bank of the Dnieper. 

Severn (Sabrina). Comus 825, 842; Vacat. Ex. 96; Hist. Brit. 
(1) 5. 14; (2) 5. 51; (4) 5. 185; (5) 5. 208 (twice), 210, 215, 
216 (twice); (6) 5. 243, 260, 272, 277, 282. 
18 



264 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

A river of southwest England, flowing southward into the 
Bristol Channel. It was part of the ancient boundary between 
England and Wales, though now the boundary is west of Severn. 
Milton mentions the river in poetry only with a reference to the 
maiden Sabrina, whose story he tells in Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 14, 
closely following Geoffrey of Monmouth. The story as used in 
Comus is unlike that in the History, and the two versions may 
profitably be compared. Spenser's version is still different. 
{F. Q. 2. 10. 18, 19.) He uses the words "flying through a 
brooke," which suggest Milton's 

the flood 
That stay'd her flight with his cross-flowing course. 

Drayton writes of Sabrina and her mother: 

Your corses were dissolv'd into that crystal streame, 
Your curies to curled waves, which plainlie still appeare 
The same in water now, that once in locks they were: 
And, as you wont to clip each others neck before, 
Yee now with liquid armes embrace the wandring shore. 

(Polyolbion 6.) 
Compare Comus 928-9: 

Summer drouth, or singed air 
Never scorch thy tresses fair. 

Milton calls the Severn "swift" (Vacat. Ex. 96), and Spenser 
calls it a "rolling river." {F.Q. 2. 10.19.7.) Camden, however, 
writes: "Immediately after its rise it forms so many meanders 
that one would often think it was running back, though it is all 
the while advancing, or rather slowly wandering through this 
county (Montgomeryshire), and those of Salop, Worcester, and 
last of all Gloucester, greatly enriching the soil as it passes, 
and at last calmly emptying itself into the Severn sea." (2. 531.) 
In Comus, on the other hand, Milton speaks of the river as 
"smooth," a "glassie, cool, translucent wave," a "silver lake," 
but yet as a "headlong wave." Cf. Shakespeare: 

On the gentle Severn's sedgy bank, . . . 
He did confound the best part of an hour 
In changing hardiment with great Glendower. 
Three times they breath'd and three times did they drink. 
Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood. 
Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks, 
Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds. 
And hid his crisp head in the hollow bank. 

(1 Henry IV 1. 3. 98-106.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 265 

In its reaches below Newnham the river is swift, and subject to 
tidal waves. 

Compare with the references to jewels in Comus 893-5, 932-3 
the description of the River Choaspes {q. v.) by Dionysius Perie- 
getes: "By its sides one may see the agate fair to behold, lying 
like a cylinder on the ground, which from the rock the torrents 
of the wintry stream roll down with them." (LI. 1075-7.) 
Without any special reference he writes: "Some seek out by the 
rocks of mountain-torrents either the gleaming stone of the 
beryl or adamant sparkling, or the green shining jasper, or the 
blazing stone of the pure topaz, and the sweet amethyst some- 
what softly gleaming purple, for the earth, irrigated here and 
there by ever-flowing streams, produces for men all sorts of 
worldly wealth." (LI. 1118-24.) 

Sevil. Areopag. 4. 421. 

Seville, a city of southern Spain on the River Guadalquivir; 
in 1481 it became the centre of the Inquisition. 

Shaftsbury (Paladur, Septonia, Skepton). Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 16; 

(6) 5. 239, 266. 

In his description of Dorsetshire, Camden writes: "Shaftes- 
bury, situate on a high hill, called by the Britans, according to 
the erroneous opinion of the vulgar, Caer Paladur and Septonia." 
(1. 45.) Milton probably had Camden in mind when he said 
that the identification "by others is contradicted." The narra- 
tive of the founding of Paladur is from Geoffrey of Monmouth 
2. 9. 

Sharstan. See Sheraston. 

Sheba. See Sabean. 

Shechem (Sechem). P. L. 12. 136; Eikonocl. (4) 3. 359; 1 
Defens. (4) 6. 79; Doct. Christ. (2. 4) 2. 277; (2. 9) 2. 370. 
A city of Palestine, now Nablus, in the valley between Mount 
Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Sechem is the Vulgate form. At 
Shechem Abram camped on his entrance into the land of Canaan 
(Genesis 12. 6), and the northern tribes threw off their allegiance 
to Rehoboam. (1 Kings 12.) 

Sheppey. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 191, 193, 194; (6) 5. 260. 

An island in the Medway, where it empties into the Thames. 



266 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Sherastan (Scorastan, Sharston). Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 255, 258, 259 
(twice). 
Sherston in Wiltshire. 

Sherburn (Shirburn). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 187; (5) 5. 196, 197, 

198, 213. 

A town in Dorsetshire, described by Camden as near the Forest 
of the White Hart, at the head of the Frome. (1. 45.) 

Sheromugaly. See Mugalla. 

Sherston. See Sherastan. 

Shetland. Moscovia (5) 8. 503. 

A group of islands north of Scotland, about fifty miles north- 
east of the Orkneys. 

Shilo (Silo). Samson 1674; MS. 2. 110. 

A town of Palestine, on the road from Bethel to Shechem. The 
tabernacle was set up there after the conquest of Canaan. 

Shinar. See Senaar. 

Shirburn. See Sherburn. 

Shirokalga. Moscovia (3) 8. 487. 

An unidentified city of China, within the Great Wall. The 
Cossack travelers commended in the Preface of Moscovia report 
thus : "In the wall to Catay are five gates, both low and straight 
or narrow, a man cannot ride into them upright on horsebacke, 
and except these five gates there is no more in all the wall; 
there all manner of people passe into the Citie of Shirokalga. 
Within the borders or wall is a Citie or Castle of Catay, called 
Shirokalga, built of stone, . . . the Castle is very high walled 
and artificially built; the Towres are high after the manner of 
Mosco Castle, in the Loope-holes or Windowes are Ordnance 
planted, as also upon the Gates or Towres; their Ordnance is 
but short, they have also great store of small shot, and the 
Watchmen everywhere upon the Gates, Towres, and Wals, well 
appointed ; and as soone as they perceive the Sunne going downe, 
the Watch dischargeth their Peeces or Ordnance thrice, as also 
at the break of day in the morning, they shoot out of their 
Pieces thrice. . . . Within the Castle are shops built of stone, 
and painted cunningly with divers colours, wherein they have 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 267 

all manner of Merchandizes, as Velvets, Damaskes, Dorogoes, 
Taffataes, Cloth of Gold, and Tissue of divers colours, sundry 
sorts of Sugars, Cloves." (Pilgrimes 3. 800.) 

Shirooan. Moscovia (3) 8. 487. 

An unidentified city of China, described thus by the Cossacks 
mentioned in the Preface of Moscovia: "From Shirokalga to a Citie 
of Catay called Shirooan is a dayes journey: this Citie is built 
of stone high walled, and large in compasse, it is a dayes travell, 
it hath twelve Towres; whereupon, as also on the Citie Gates is 
planted Ordnance and small shot great store, with a continuall 
Watch or Guard, night and day; at the first comming are five 
Gates well furnished with Ordnance and War-like Munition; 
and from one gate to the other through the Citie is halfe a dayes 
going. . . . For Victuals and Merchandizes, here is more then 
in the Cities mentioned, all their shops very full, and the Citie 
so populous that one can hardly passe the streets for the throng 
of people. The Ambassadors Houses are also faire built of 
stone, their Wals covered with Brasse, so that this Citie is 
adorned more with precious things then the former mentioned 
and much more populous." {Pilgrimes 3. 801.) 

Shoberie. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 208. 

Shoebury, a village of Essex, on a point of land extending into 
the estuary of the Thames. (Camden 2. 42.) 

Shoreham. See Cymenshore. 

Shropshire. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 53; (4) 5. 156; (6) 5. 247, 257. 

Otherwise known as Salop, a county of England on the Welsh 
border. 

Siber. Moscovia (2) 8. 483. 

Formerly a city of Siberia on the Irtish, a tributary of the Ob, 
about ten miles above Tobolsk. Its site has now been washed 
away by the river. 

Siberia. Moscovia (1) 8. 473; (2) 8. 482, 484; (4) 8. 494; (5) 

8. 518. 

In Milton's time the name was applied to the upper basin of 
the Ob. We read in Purchas: "It was further ordayned by the 
Moscovites that there should be places chosen by the River 
Oby, and in the fields adjoyning unto it, fortified by the naturall 



268 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

situation for the building of Castles thereon, and furnishing 
them with Garrisons, and that there should be sent thither a 
chief Governour, principally for further discovering the Countrey, 
and bringing it under subjection. These things so ordayned, 
did likewise take effect. And first of all there were builded 
certaine Castles enclosed with certaine strong beames, cut out 
of the Woods thereby, and fastened one in another in double 
rewes, filled between with earth, and fortified with Garrisons; 
and so great a multitude of men is duely sent thither, that in 
some places there are Cities assembled, consisting of Poles, 
Tartars, Russes, and other nations mingled together. For unto 
these parts are sent all that are banished, Murtherers, Traitors, 
Theeves, and the scumme of such as deserve death: some of 
which are for a time kept in prison, other enforced to continue 
there for certaine yeeres, every one according to the rate of his 
offence. . . . The whole country is called Siberia." {Pilgrimes 
3. 524.) 

Sibma. P. L. 1. 410. 

A place beyond Jordan, where there were extensive vineyards; 
Jerome (on Isaiah 16. 8) states that it was hardly five hundred 
paces from Heshbon (g. v.). The vines and fruits of Sibma are 
mentioned, figuratively, in Isaiah 16. 8-10, Jeremiah 48. 32. 
The term "flowry Dale" seems to be Milton's own. Fuller's 
map of the tribe of Reuben shows a grape-vine near "Shibmah." 
(P. 61.) 
Sicania. See Sicily. 

Sicily (Sicania, Sicilia, Trinacria). Lycidas 133; Eleg. 4. 5; 

Eleg. 5. 66; Quint. Nov. 36; Nat. Non 56; Damon. 3; P. L. 

2. 661; Reformation (2) 3. 39; Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 273; 

Areopag. 4. 428; 2 Defens. 6. 288; Pro Se Defens. 6. 376; 

Contra Hisp. 7. 361. (See also .^tna, Enna, Scylla.) 

A large island in the Mediterranean, southwest of Italy; its 
triangular shape caused it to be called Trinacria. For explana- 
tion of "the hoarce Trinacrian shore" {P. L. 2. 661) see Charyb- 
dis. Milton tells us {2 Defens. 6. 288) that when in Italy he 
intended to continue his journey to Sicily, then under Spanish 
rule. He was interested in its natural features, such as Mount 
.^tna, and in its association with pastoral poetry, as the home 
of Theocritus. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 269 

Sidon. Eleg. 4. 100; P. L. 1. 441. 

An ancient seaport of Phoenicia, often mentioned in the Bible, 
and by classical writers. 

Sieciethovia. Decl. Poland 8. 468. 

Czenstochowa, a town in Poland, near the River Warta, 
containing a celebrated monastery. 

Sierra Leone. See Serraliona. 
Sigeius. Eleg. 7. 21. 

Pertaining to Sigeum, a promontory, with a town of the same 
name, in Troas, where was the tomb of Achilles. 

Sihon's Realm. See Seon's Realme. 

Silesia. Moscovia (4) 8. 490. 

A region of central Europe, mainly in the upper basin of the 
Oder. 

Silo. See Shilo. 

Siloa. P. L. 1. 11. (See also Solomon, Garden of.) 

On the west side of the Kidron Valley, the deep valley east of 
Jerusalem, is a spring known as Gihon. Its waters are conducted 
through a tunnel, cut through the rock on the summit of wfiich 
Jerusalem stands, to a pool southeast of the modern city, called 
the Pool of Siloam (Siloa). The overflow from this pool flowed 
farther south down the valley and watered the King's Garden, 
a place of great fertility. Hence, though Siloa is near the city, 
and not far from the Temple ("the oracles of God") it is not 
properly a brook. It is called a pool in Nehemiah 3. 15 and 
John 9. 7, 11, but in Isaiah 8. 6 there is a reference to "the 
waters of Shiloh that go softly." Jerome calls Siloam a fountain 
at the roots of Mount Zion. Milton undoubtedly had Siloam 
and the King's Garden in mind when he wrote: 

Sion and the flowrie Brooks beneath 
That wash thy hallowd feet, and warbling flow. 

(P. L. 3. 30-L) 
Silton. See Seletune. 

Simmern. See Symmeren. 

Simois. Eleg. 1. 83. 

A small river in the Troad, anciently a tributary of the 
Scamander. It is often mentioned in the Iliad. 



270 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Sinaean. See Cathay. 

Sinai (Horeb, Oreb). Nativity 158; P. L. 1. 7, 484; 11.74; 12. 

227; P. R. 1. 351; 2. 15; Church-gov. (2. 3) 3. 167; Apology 

(8) 3. 307; Divorce (2. 3) 4. 65; (2. 11) 4. 91; (2. 22) 4. 129; 

MS. 2. 109. 

Mount Sinai, otherwise called Horeb and Oreb, is usually 
placed in the Sinaitic peninsula. Milton's references are based 
on Exodus 19-34. A comparison of P. L. 11. 73-76 with P. L. 
12. 227-30 suggests that he identified the two, though P. L. 1. 7 
gives the opposite impression. Adrichomius, after giving the 
opinion of Jerome that one mountain is known by two names, 
concludes that the two are distinct, but connected at their bases, 
Sinai being higher than Horeb. On his map he shows two moun- 
tains so joined. On the summit of Oreb is Moses, his hands 
supported by Aaron and Hur, while the Israelites and Amalekites 
fight on the plain. Farther down the slope is the scene of the 
burning bush, and at the foot Moses bringing water from the 
rock. Near at hand is the cave of Elijah. (1 Kings 19. 8-9.) 
On the summit of Sinai,' Moses, kneeling, receives from the 
hand of God, who appears in glory, the tables of the law, and at 
the foot he casts them on the ground. (Pp. 116, 122.) Various 
opinions about Oreb and Sinai, as represented in the accounts 
of travelers, are given by Purchas. {Pilgrimes 2. 1376 ff.) 

Sion. Ps. 2. 13; 84. 28; 87. 5, 18; Eleg. 4. 113; Damon. 219; 

P. L. 1. 10, 386,442,453; 3.30,530; P. R. 4. 347; Episcopacy 

3. 91; Animadv. (PS. 161) 3. 244; Eikonocl. (15) 3. 451; 

Areopag. 4. 437; Kings & Mag. 4. 489, 499. 

Sion or Zion is one of the hills on which Jerusalem is built, 
traditionally that to the southwest, though the matter is now 
considered debatable. Milton employs the word as equivalent to 
Jerusalem. 

Sittim. P. L. 1. 413. 

The last camp, east of the Jordan, opposite Jericho, of the 
Israelites on their journey from Egypt. Josephus identifies the 
place with Abila, which he says is seven and a half Roman miles 
east of the Jordan. {Antiquities 4. 8. 1 ; 5.1.1.) The reference 
of Milton is to Numbers 25. 1-5. 

Skepton. See Shaftsbury. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 271 

Sleswich (Slesvlcus). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 112; Safe-cond. (thrice). 
Schleswig, the district north of the Eider River, and south of 
the present boundary of Denmark. 

Slesvicus. See Sleswich. 

Slobotca. Moscovia (1) 8. 472. (See also Mezen.) 

^ This name does not appear on modern maps, though it is 
given on Mercator's map of Russia. It occurs several times in 
the narratives of travelers, once in the form Mezemske Sloboda. 
(Hak. 1. 364.) Since Slahoda means, in Russian, suburb or 
village, the place in question was doubtless either a suburb of 
Mezen, set apart for trade, or perhaps the town of Mezen as 
distinguished from the province of the same name. 
Smalcaldia. Kings & Mag. 4. 490. 

Schmalkalden or Smalkald is a city of Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, 
where in 1537 a league was made by the Protestants of Germany 
against Charles V. 

Smirna. See Smyrna. 
Smithfield. Hirelings 5. 367, 

A famous cattle-market of London, north of St. Paul's. 
Milton's reference may be compared with a few words in Stow's 
description of Smithfield: "Then be the pens or folds so called 
of sheep there parted, and penned up to be sold on the market 
days." (2. 29.) 

Smolensko. Moscovia (1) 8. 476; (4) 8. 492, 500; Decl. Poland 
8. 466. 

^ Smolensk, a city of Russia on the River Dnieper. In the 
sixteenth century it was powerfully fortified, and of great im- 
portance. 

Smyrna (Smirna). Episcopacy 3. 80, 81, 84 (twice), 85 (thrice), 

86 (twice), 92; Lit. Oliv. (57) 7. 306. 

A city of Asia Minor on the Gulf of Smyrna. It is mentioned 
in Revelation 2. 8-11. 

Soar. See Sora. 

Sodom. P. L. 1. 503; 10. 562; Church-gov. (2. Conclus.) 3. 183 
(twice); Apology (11) 3. 316; Eikonocl. (Pref.) 3. 332; Doct. 
Christ. (2. 9) 2. 368; MS. 2. 108. (See also Asphaltic Pool.) 



272 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

A city near the Dead Sea ; its exact site is not known. Milton's 
references depend on Genesis 14 and 19. 

Sofala. P. L. 11. 400. See also Ophir. 

A seaport and, formerly, a district in Portuguese East Africa. 
We read in Purchas: "It is but a small Kingdome, and hath but a 
few Houses or Townes in it. The chief and principall head whereof 
is an island that lyeth in the River called Sofola, which giveth 
the name to all the whole Countrey. It is inhabited by Mahome- 
tans, and the King himselfe is of the same sect, and yieldeth 
obedience to the Crowne of Portugall. . . . And thereupon the 
Portugals there doe keepe a Fort in the mouth of the River Cuana, 
and doe trade in those Countries for Gold, and Ivory and Amber, 
which is found upon that Coast, and good store of Slaves, and 
instead thereof, they leave behind them Cotton Cloath, and 
Silkes that are brought from Cambata, and is the common ap- 
parell of those people. The Mahometans that at this present doe 
inhabit those countries are not naturally borne there, but before 
the Portugals came into those quarters, they Trafficked thither 
in small Barkes, from the Coast of Arabia FoeHx. And when 
the Portugals had conquered that Realme, the Mahometans 
stayed there still, and now they are become neither utter Pagans, 
nor holding the Sect of Mahomet. From the shoares and Coast, 
. . . within the Land spreadeth the Empire of Monomotapa, 
where there is very great store of Mines of Gold, which is carried 
from thence into all the Regions thereabouts, and into Sofola, 
and into the other parts of Africa. And some there be that will 
say that Solomon's Gold, which he had for the Temple of Jerusa- 
lem, was brought by Sea out of these Countries. A thing in 
truth not very unlikely, for in the Countries of Monomotapa 
there doe remain to this day many ancient buildings of great 
work, and singular Architecture, of Stone, of Lime, and of Timber, 
the like whereof are not to bee seene in all the provinces adjoyn- 
ing." {Pilgrimes 2. 1022.) 

Sogdiana. P. R. 3. 302. 

A country of central Asia, in the region of the Rivers Oxus and 
Jaxartes. It was the farthest conquest of Alexander. Dionysius 
Periegetes writes: "To the north are the Chorasmians, and next 
the land of Sogdiana, through the midst of which flows the sacred 
Oxus, which, leaving the Emodus Mountains, falls into the 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 273 

Caspian. After this, by the course of the Jaxartes Hve the Sacae, 
carrying bows, which no other bowman may disgrace, for they 
are not accustomed to shoot in vain." (LI. 746-51.) 

Soissons. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 31. 

A city of France, in the department of Aisne. 

Solofky. Moscovia (1) 8. 476. 

The monastery of Solovetsky, on an island in the southern 
part of the White Sea. Milton's source is the following: "We 
arrived at a monasterie named Solofky. . . . We had here de- 
livered us by the chiefe monkes of the monasterie their letter 
and house seale, and a servant of theirs to conduct us safely 
through the dangerous river of Owiga. The people of all those 
parts are wild, and speake another kind of language, and are 
for the most part all tenants to the monasterie. The efifect of the 
letter was that they should be ready to help and assist us in all 
dangerous places, and carie our boats and goods over land in 
places needfull, as in deed they did. . . . The number of monkes 
belonging to the monasterie are at the least 200." (Hak. 1. 
366.) 

Solomon, Garden of. P. L. 9. 442. (See also Hinnom.) 

The garden mentioned in Solomon's Song. Quaresmius sug- 
gests a place "inclosed" (Solomon's Song 4. 12) by mountains 
near Bethlehem, and also a situation just east of Jerusalem, 
where was the King's Garden. (Nehemiah 3. 15.) He refers to 
Adrichomius, whose words may be translated: "The King's 
Garden, which is called the garden shut up, was a garden in the 
suburbs of Jerusalem, shut in on all sides by walls, and made 
strong, and like a paradise, pleasant with a profusion of trees, 
shrubs, herbs, spices, flowers, and fruits, fit for softening and 
heating the passions, and suited to voluptuous retirement. In 
this was included that fountain Rogel . . . where he im- 
molated the victims of Adonis, when he had established that 
worship, and feasted with his parasites.'' (Pp. 170, 140, map.) 
The fountain Rogel is perhaps the same as Gihon. (See Siloa.) 
Quaresmius believes that the king had many gardens, referring 
to Ecclesiastes 2. 4-6. {Terrce Sanctce Elucidatio 6. 7. 1.) 

Solovetsky. See Solofky. 

Solway. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 73. 



274 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

A firth on the west coast of Great Britain, partly dividing 
Scotland from England. 

Somerset (Somersetshire, Summerset). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 125 

(twice); (4) 5. 161, 193, 195, 205 (twice); (6) 5. 244, 256, 282 

(twice) . 

A county of England south of the Bristol Channel. 
Somerton. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 173. 

A town in Somersetshire. 

Sonderborg. See Sunderburg. 
Sora. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 16. 

The Soar is a river of Leicestershire, tributary to the Trent. 
Sorec. Samson 229. 

Sorek, a valley of Palestine extending from the coastal plain 
eastward to the neighborhood of Jerusalem. It is mentioned 
in Judges 16. 4 as the home of Delilah, 

Southampton. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 192. 

A seaport of Hampshire at the head of Southampton Water. 
Milton also applies the name to the county of Hampshire. 
{Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 198; (6) 5. 251). 

Southern Sea. See Tyrrhen Sea. 

South Saxons. See Sussex. 

South Wales. See Wales. 

Southwark. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 280, 283. 

A part of London south of the Thames, described by Camden 
in his account of Surrey as "that most famous market town in 
the county called now the Borough of Southworke . . . from its 
south situation opposite to London, of which it seems a kind of 
suburb, but so large and populous as not to be inferior to many 
cities in England." (1. 170.) 

Spain (Hesperia, Hispania, Iberian Fields). Quint. Nov. 102, 
103, 126; Comus 60; P. R. 2. 200; Church-gov. (1. 6) 3. 124; 
Eikonocl. (20) 3. 481; Tetrach. (Fathers) 4. 265; Kings & 
Mag. 4. 467 (twice), 476; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 4, 23; (2) 5. 46, 91 
(thrice); 2 Defens. 6. 305; Lit. Senat. (4) 7. 190; (7) 7. 193; 
(23) 7. 208; (28) 7. 214; {2,2,) 7. 221; Lit. Oliv. (4) 7. 241 



I 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 275 

(twice); (74) 7. 325 (twice); Contra Hisp. 7. 346, 350, 351 

(thrice), 352 (thrice), 353 (twice), 358, 361 (thrice), 362,. 363, 

367; Moscovia (5) 8. 515 (twice); Commonplace 109, 114, 189; 

2 Eng. Let., Masson 4. 479; Sixteen Let. 9. 

The Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) was poetically 

called Hesperia by the Romans because situated at the western 

end of the Mediterranean. In the time of Milton the height of 

Spanish power had passed, though Spain was still powerful, and 

ruled other parts of Europe, such as Sicily and Flanders, and 

possessed great dominions in the New World. Englishmen still 

retained some of the feeling toward Spain so keen in the time of 

the Armada, in 1588, thinking of it as a great Roman Catholic 

power which was a menace to Protestant England, and also as 

continually annoying English trade in the New World. During 

the Protectorate England declared war on Spain for the causes 

set forth in Contra Hisp., written by Milton in the name of 

Cromwell. 

Spalatto. Animadv. (PS. 166) 3. 245. 

A city of Dalmatia, on the Adriatic Sea. 
Sparatinum. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 8 (twice). 

An unknown town said by Geoffrey of Monmouth to be in 
Greece. (1. 5.) Milton's parenthesis, " I know not what Towne, 
but certain of no Greek name," shows that he had endeavored to 
identify it. 

Sparta (Lacedsemon, Spartan Land). Infant 26; P. L. 10. 674; 
Church-gov. (2. Con.) 3. 178; Eikonocl. (28) 3.522; Education 4. 
390; Areopag. 4. 401 ; Easy Way 5.436,437; 1 Defens. (4) 6. 75. 
A city on the River Eurotas in Laconia. 

Spartan Land. See Sparta. 

Specular Mount. See Niphates, 

Spire. Lit. Senat. (18) 7. 203; Lit. Oliv. (42) 7. 289. 

Spires, a town of Bavaria, on the Rhine; famous as the meet- 
ing-place of the Diet of Spires, in 1529. 

Stafford. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 257. 

A town of Staffordshire, on the River Sow. 

Staffordshire. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 215. 
A county of western England, watered by the River Trent. 



276 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Stamford. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 113; (5) 5. 219, 228. 

A town on the border of Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, 
on the Welland River. 

Stamford Bridge (Battle Bridge). Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 296. 

A bridge over the River Derwent, in the East Riding of York- 
shire, where, in 1066, Harold defeated the Norwegians. 

Stanes. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 250; Commonplace 183. 

In his account of Middlesex Camden writes of Stanes, a village 
west of London: "Stanes presents itself . . . with a wooden 
bridge over the Thames. It takes its name from a boundry 
stone formerly placed here to mark the jurisdiction of the city 
of London. . . . Near this stone is the famous Runningmead 
. . . where the barons of England assembled in a body, 1215, 
to demand their liberties of King John." (2. 2.) Milton 
must often have seen this place in his journeys from Horton to 
London. 

Steep. See Anglesea. 

Sterlinbridge (Sterling, Sterlinium). Kings & Mag. 4. 474; 

Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 195, 196; 2 Defens. 6. 324. 

In his description of Sterlingshire, Scotland, Camden writes: 
"Where Forth rolls its meanders and passes under the bridge 
stands Sterlin, . . . where on the brow of a steep rock rises a 
very strong royal castle, which King James VI has enlarged with 
new buildings." (3. 356.) 

Stetinum. Lit. Rich. (6) 7. 337. 

Stettin, a port of Pomerania on the River Oder. 
Stettin. See Stetinum. 

Stoa. P. R. 4. 253. 

The Stoa Pcecile, or Painted Porch, at Athens, fronting on the 
market-place. The paintings with which its walls were adorned 
were celebrated. The Stoic philosophers taught there, and derive 
their name from it. 

Stockholma. Lit. Senat. (19) 7. 203. 
Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. 

Stonar (Lapis Tituli). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 116. (See also Tanet.) 
Now a parish, and formerly a town, in the island of Thanet. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 277 

Stormaria. Safe-cond. (thrice). 

Stormarn, part of Schleswig-Holstein, in southern Holstein 
on the right bank of the Elbe. 

1. Stour. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 206. 

A river dividing Essex and Suffolk. 

2. Stour. See Stowre, Sture. 

Stowre. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 38. 

The Stour, a river of Kent which flows by Canterbury and 
separates Thanet from the mainland. 

Straddale. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 286. 

A district on the border of England and Wales, reckoned with 
Herefordshire in the Domesday book. See Freeman's Norman 
Conquest 2. 393. 

Strasburgh (Argentina). Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 278; Bucer: Di- 
vorce (Test.) 4. 289 (twice), 292; (Pari.) 4. 296 (twice); Rami 
Vita 7. 184. 
Strassburg (Latin, Argentina), the capital of Alsace-Lorraine; 

in the sixteenth century one of the imperial cities of Germany, 

and a centre of Protestantism. Martin Bucer lived there for 

many years. 

Strat-Cluid. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 219. 

A valley in Denbighshire, described by Camden, to whom 
Milton refers, as follows: "We come now to the heart of the 
county, where nature has formed a most beautiful vale. . . . The 
river Cluyd'. . . runs through the middle of the vale from its 
source, whence it was called Strat Cluyd." (2. 575.) 

Strya. Decl. Poland 8. 466. 

Stry or Stryj, a town of Galicia, Poland. 

Sturbridge. Animadv. (3. 32) 3. 210. (See also Barwellianus.) 
Sturbridge Green is that part of the Barnwell Fields, Cam- 
bridge, where was held the renowned Sturbridge Fair. Fuller 
writes of it: "This Sturbridge Fair is so called from Stur, a little 
rivulet (on both sides whereof it is kept) on the east of Cam- 
bridge; whereof this original is reported : A clothier of Kendall, 
. . . casually wetting his cloth in that water in his passage to 
London, exposed it there to sale, on cheap terms, as the worse 



278 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

for the wetting; and yet, it seems, saved by the bargain. Next 
year he returned again, with some other of his townsmen, proffer- 
ing drier and dearer cloth to be sold; so that within few years 
hither came a confluence of buyers, sellers, and lookers-on, which 
are the three principles of a fair. . . . It is at this day the most 
plentiful of wares in all England ; most fairs in other places being 
but markets in comparison thereof; being an amphibion, as 
well going on ground as swimming by water, by the benefit of 
a navigable river." {Cambridge, p. 101.) It has been suggested 
(Brown, Bunyan, p. 270) that from this fair Bunyan derived ideas 
for his description of Vanity Fair, of which, among other things, 
he says: "At this Fair there is at all times to be seen Jugglings, 
Cheats, Games, Plays, Fools, Apes, Knaves, and Rogues, and 
that of every kind." (Pilgrim's Progress, Oxford ed., p. 108.) 
Milton's "mystical man" is one of these jugglers. Milton un- 
doubtedly visited this fair while a student at Cambridge. 

Sture. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 14. 

Perhaps the River Stour, rising in Wiltshire and flowing 
through Dorsetshire and Hamshire to join the Avon not far 
from the Channel; it is mentioned by Spenser in F. Q. 4. 11. 32. 

Styx. Comus 4-5 (canceled lines intervening here in the Camb. 
MS.); Eleg. 2. 9; 4 Prod. Bomb. 2; P. L. 2. 577; 1 Prolus. 7. 
416; 4 Prolus. 7. 430. 
A river of Arcadia, transferred to the lower regions. 

Sucana. Moscovia (1) 8. 474. 

A river of northern Russia, tributary to Dwina." It is now 
called Suchona, and Vologda. "Succana hath his head from a 
lake not farre from the citie of Vologda." (Hak. 1. 312.) 

Succoth. Samson 278. 

A place in Palestine east of Jordan. Its exact situation is 
not known. Milton takes the name from Judges 8. 5-17. 

Suchona. See Sucana. 
Suecia. See Sweden. 
Suevia. Notes: Grif. 5. 394. 

Swabia, an ancient duchy of Germany, corresponding in general 
to Wiirtemberg, Baden, and southwestern Bavaria, and at times 
including other regions. 



A GEOGRz^PHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 279 

Suffolk. Reformation (2) 3. 61 ; Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 214; Common- 
place 221. 
A county on the east coast of England, bounded on the north 

by Norfolk, and on the south by Essex. 

Sulmo. Grammar (1) 6. 434. 

An ancient city of Latium, probably the modern Sermoneta. 

Sumatra. See Summatra. 

Summatra. Commonplace 13. (See also Chersonese.) 

An island of the Dutch East Indies, southeast of the Malay 
Peninsula. Milton's reference to it occurs under the heading 
Gula (Gluttony), and is as follows: "The Indians in Summatra 
great gluttons renew thire stomach by chewing an hearb call'd 
Arecca betula. Purchas tom. 1. 132." The passage in Purchas 
is as follows: "The King is called Sultan Aladin, and is an hun- 
dred yeares old, as they say, yet hee is a lustie man, but exceeding 
grosse and fat. . . . The wals and covering of his house are 
Mats, which sometime is hanged with cloth of Gold, sometime 
with Velvet, and sometime with Damaske. Hee sitteth upon 
the ground crosselegged like a Taylor, and so must all those doe 
that be in his presence. He alwayes weareth foure Cresis, two 
before and two behind, exceeding rich with Diamonds and Rubies; 
and hath a Sword lying upon his lap. He hath attending upon 
him fortie women at the least, some with Pannes to coole him, 
some with Clothes to dry his sweat, some give him Aqua vitae, 
others water: the rest sing pleasant Songs. He doth nothing 
all the day but eate and drinke, from morning to night there is no 
end of banquetting: and when his belley is readie to breake, then 
hee eateth Arecca Betula, which is a fruit like a Nutmeg, wrapped 
in a kind of leafe like Tabacco, with sharpe chalke made of 
Pearle Oyster-shels : chawing this it maketh the spittle very red, 
draweth the Rhume exceedingly, and procureth a mightie 
stomacke: this maketh the teeth very blacke, and they be the 
bravest that have the blackest teeth. By this means getting 
againe his stomacke, he goeth with a fresh courage to eating. 
And for a Change with a Cracking Gorge, hee goeth into the 
River, where he hath a place made of purpose, there getting a 
stomacke by being in the water. Hee, his great men and women 
doe nothing but eate, drinke, and talke of Venerie. If the Poets 
19 



280 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Fables have ajiy shew of truth, then undoubtedly this King is 
the great Bacchus. For he holdeth all the Ceremonies of 
Gluttonie." (Pilgrimes I. 3. 121-2.) Milton's reference to page 
132, instead of 122, is the result of a misprint in the Pilgrimes. 

Summerset. See Somerset. 
Sunderburg. Lit. Oliv. (21) 7. 263. 

Sonderborg, a town of Schleswig-Holstein, on the south coast 
of the island of Alsen. 

Suratta. Lit. Senat. (45) 7. 236. 

Surat, a port in Bombay Presidency, India. 

Surgoot. See Zergolta. 

Surrey. Animadv. (5. 50) 3. 223; Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 187; (5) 
5. 193, 194, 197, 208, 218; (6) 5. 250, 258, 282. 
A county of England south of the Thames. 
Sus. P. L. 11. 403. (See also Almansor.) 

A province of southwestern Morocco. " Now comes the region 
of Sus to be considered of, being situate beyond Atlas, over 
against the territorie of Hea, that is to say, in the extreme part of 
Africa. Westward it beginneth from the Ocean sea, and south- 
ward from the sandie deserts: on the north it is bounded with 
the utmost towne of Hea; and on the east with that mightie river 
whereof the whole region is named." (Leo Africanus, p. 248.) 

Susa. Eleg. 1. 66; P. L. 10. 308; P. R. 3. 288. (See also 

Choaspes.) 

The modern Sus or Shush, and the Scriptural Shushan, the 
chief city of ancient Susiana, on the River Choaspes. Strabo 
writes: "A famous city; for the Persians and Cyrus, after 
the conquest of the Medes, because they saw that their own land 
was situated on the borders, but Susa was near to Babylon and 
the other peoples, settled there, because they esteemed both the 
situation of the region and the importance of the city, and 
because, what was of more importance, the inhabitants of Susa 
never had attempted great enterprises on their own behalf, but 
had ever been subject, and been part of some greater whole, 
except in the times of the heroes. Susa, in circuit a hundred 
and twenty stades, and oblong in shape, is said to have been 
founded by Tithonus, father of Memnon, for whom the citadel 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 281 

is called Memnonian. . . . The structure of the walls of the city, 
of the temples, and of the palace, is, some say, like that of those 
at Babylon, of sun-dried brick and bitumen." (15. 3. 2.) 
Herodotus refers to Susa as the "palace of Memnon," and tells 
of the joy in Susa when news of Xerxes' capture of Athens was 
received, and of the lamentation over the news of the defeat at 
Salamis. (5. 53; 8. 99.) 

Susiana. P. R. 3. 321. 

A province in what is now the extreme southwest part of the 
kingdom of Persia, watered by the Choaspes (g. v.). Strabo 
says: "Susiana is part of Persia, between it and Babylon. . . . 
It stretches to the sea. Its coast reaches from the limits of the 
coast of Persia to the mouth of Tigris, almost three thousand 
stadia." (15. 3. 2 ff.) Susiana, touching the shore of the 
Persian Gulf, represents for Milton the southern limit of the 
Parthian Empire. In his description of the Assyrian Empire, 
which occupied about the same territories as Parthia, he gives 
as the southern boundary "the Persian Bay." (P. R. 3. 273.) 

Sussex (South Saxons). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 118, 120; (4) 5. 161, 
177, 187; (5) 5. 192, 197, 209; (6) 5. 243, 247, 282, 289, 297. 
A county of England bounded on the north by Surrey and 

Kent, and on the south by the Channel. 

Swabia. See Suevia. 

Swanswich (Gnavewic, Swanwine). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 204 

(twice) . 

Swanage or Swanwich, a port in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset- 
shire. 

Sweden (Suecia). Sonnet 18.8; Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 255, 263; 
Notes: Grif. 5. 394; 2 Defens. 6. 280, 283; Lit. Oliv. (3) 

7. 240; (29) 7. 272; (32) 7. 275, 277 (4 times); (44) 7. 292 
(twice); (53) 7. 303; Lit. Rest. Pari. (2) 7. 344; Decl. Poland 

8. 462; Moscovia (4) 8. 494, 500. 

In the time of Milton Sweden was the leading Protestant 
power of the Continent, possessing a great amount of territory 
in what is now Russia and Germany. In 1661 the area of its 
territories was more than twice as great as at the present 
time. During the period of the official connection of Milton 



282 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

with the government of England, Sweden was ruled by Chris- 
tiana, daughter of Gustavus Adolphus. 

Swire. Moscovia (1) 8. 476. 

A river connecting Lakes Onega and Ladoga, part of the water 
route followed by Southam and Sparke from St. Nicholas to 
Novogrod. (Hak. 1. 367.) 

Switzerland. See Swizzerland. 

Swizzerland (Helvetia). Animadv. (13. 127) 3. 239; Tetrach. 

(Canon) 4. 281; Lit. Oliv. (36) 7. 283. (See also Geneva, 

Alps.) 

Ortelius describes Switzerland (Latin, Helvetia) as the highest 
region of Europe, between the Rhine, the mountain of St. 
Claudius, Lake Geneva, and Italy. He says that the country is 
an "anarchy," subject to no prince, but made up of thirteen in- 
dependent cantons, joined in alliance. (P. 66.) 

Syene. P. R. 4. 70. (See also Merope.) 

The modern Assouan. It was the frontier town of Egypt to 
the south, on the right bank of the Nile at the lower end of the 
Great Falls. Pliny speaks of it as the limit of the Roman 
Empire. (12. 4.) 

Symmeren. Sixteen Let. 3. 

Simmern, a former dukedom of Germany, now a department 
in the administrative district of Coblenz, west of the Rhine. 

Syria. Marchioness 63; P. L. 1. 421, 448, 474; 11. 218; Hist. 
Brit. (1) 5. 4; Hirelings 5. 369; 1 Defens. (4) 6. 83, 84; (7) 6. 
128; Pro Se Defens. 6. 333; Doct. Christ. (2. 5) 2. 313. 
Palestine and the country north of it to the Taurus Mountains. 

Syrtis. P. L. 2. 939. 

The Syrtis Major and the Syrtis Minor are two gulfs in the 

region of Tripoli on the north coast of Africa, now known as the 

Gulfs of Sidra and Cabes. They are pictured by Lucan as 

follows : 

When Nature gave the universe its form 
She left this region neither land nor sea; 
Not wholly shrunk, so that it should receive 
The ocean flood; nor firm enough to stand 
Against its buffets — all the pathless coast 
Lies in uncertain shape; the land by earth 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 283 

Is parted from the deep; on sandy banks 
The seas are broken, and from shoal to shoal 
The waves advance to sound upon the shore. 
Nature, in spite, thus left her work undone, 
Unfashioned to men's use. {Pharsalia 9. 304-lL) 

The quicksands of the Syrtes were much dreaded in antiquity; 
in the account of the shipwreck of St. Paul we read that the 
sailors feared "lest they should fall into the quicksands." (Acts 
27. 17.) 

Taenarus. Eleg. 5. 66; 4 Prod. Bomb. 2; Procancel. 5. 

A promontory in Laconia, where was a cave reputed to be the 
entrance of the infernal regions. 

Tagus. Eleg. 3. 46; Lit. Senat. (6) 7. 192; (10) 7. 196. 

A river of Spain and Portugal, flowing into the Atlantic. 
It was known for its golden sand, mentioned by Ovid: 

Quodque suo Tagus amne vehit . . . aurum. (Met. 2. 25 L) 

Tamar (Tamara). Damon 178; Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 226. 

A river of southwestern England, emptying into the English 
Channel. Spenser writes: 

There was the speedy Tamar,. which divides 
The Cornish and the Devonish confines. 

{F. (3.4. IL 3L 1-2.) 

According to Camden: "Tamar passes at the bottom of a range 
of very high mountains. . . . This was antiently rich in tin 
mines." (1. 7.) 

Tamara. See Tamar. 
Tamigi. See Thames. 
Tamira. Lit. Oliv. (78) 7. 329, 330 (twice). 

Probably Tavira, a port on the south coast of Portugal. 

Tamworth. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 219. 

A town in the eastern part of Staffordshire, on the Tame. 
Tanais. Moscovia (1) 8. 473. 

The Don, a river of Russia flowing into the Sea of Azov. It 
was once considered the boundary between Europe and Asia. 



284 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Tanet. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 112, 116 (twice); (4) 5. 138, 163; 

(5) 5. 194, 198; (6) 5. 249. 

Thanet, the northeastern part of Kent, once an island, 
now part of the mainland. Camden writes: "The Stour 
runs ... to Sturemouth, where its divided waters taking two 
courses lose their first name, and take that of Wantsume, making 
Thanet an island on the west and south; the other sides being 
washed by the ocean. . . . The whole of it consists of white 
chalk, with fruitful wheat fields and rich pasture. It is eight 
miles in length, four in breadth." (1. 217.) 

Tangut. Moscovia (3) 8. 485. 

Approximately the modern province of Kansuh, China. Mil- 
ton refers to Pilgrimes 3. 543, where Purchas gives the following 
marginal note: "Tangut mentioned by Polo, a large Kingdom, 
Northward from Cathay, of China." 

Taprobane. P. R. 4. 75. (See also Summatra.) 

Probably Milton thought of Taprobane as Ceylon, as do 
modern geographers. It.has also been identified with Sumatra. 
(Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 658.) It frequently appears on old maps 
as the last island toward the east. (Ortelius, Parergon, p. 1.) 
Among the ancients Pliny gives the most complete account: 
"It hath beene of long time thought by men in auncient dayes 
that Taprobane was a second world, in such sort as many 
have taken it to be the place of the Antipodes, and called it 
the Antichthones world. But after the time of Alexander the 
Great, and the voyage of his armie into those parts, it was 
discovered and knowne for a truth both that it was an Island, 
and what compass it bare. ... It beginneth at the Levant sea 
of Orientall Indians, from which it stretcheth and extendeth 
between the East and West of India. . . . Wee come to farre 
better intelligence and more notable information, by certaine 
Embassadours comming out of that Island in the time of Claudius 
Csesar the Emperour. . . . By these Embassadours we were 
informed of the state of that Island, namely, that it contained 
five hundred great towns in it; and that there was a haven therin 
regarding the South coast, lying hard under Palesimundum the 
principall citie of all that realme, and the kings seat and pallace; 
that there were by just account 200,000 of commoners and 
citizens. . . . But even this Island Taprobane, as farre off as 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 285 

it is, seeming as it were cast out of the way by Nature, and 
divided from all this world wherein we live, is not without 
these vices and imperfections wherewith we are tainted and 
infected. For even gold and silver also is there, in great request 
and highly esteemed : and marble, especially if it be fashioned 
like a tortoise shell. Jemmes and precious stones; pearles also, 
such as be orient and of the better sort, are highly prised by them. 
. . . Moreover, these Embassadours would say that they had 
more riches in their Island than wee at Rome." (6. 22.) 

Tarpeian Rock. See Capitol. 

Tarsus. P. L. 1. 200; Samson 715; Colast. 4. 357; Hiat. Brit. 

(4) 5. 162. 

A city of Cilicia on the River Cydnus. Not far away was the 
den of Typhon, of whom Pindar writes : " Typhon of the hundred 
heads, whom erst the den Kilikian of many names did breed." 
(Pyth. 1. 31-2.) Legends are told of the ancient foundation of 
the city, to which Milton refers as "ancient Tarsus." Strabo 
says that it was founded by Argives who went with Triptolemus 
in search of lo. (16. 2. 5.) Josephus derives its name from 
Tarshish, grandson of Noah, whom he calls Tharsus, explaining: 
"The names are spelled here after the manner of the Greeks, to 
please my readers, for our own language does not so spell them : 
but the names in all cases are one and the same." (Antiq. 1. 6. 1.) 
He identifies with Tarsus the Biblical city of Tarshish. {Antiq. 
8.7.2; 9. 10. 2; cf. Jonah 1.3, etc.) The form used by the Vulgate 
for Tarshish is Tharsis, and elsewhere Tarsis is found (e. g., 
Bochart, p. 375). In Samson 715 Milton apparently makesTarsus 
the same as Tarshish, since, when he wrote of a "ship of Tarsus," 
he had in mind the frequent Biblical mention of "ships of 
Tarshish." (2 Chr. 9. 21, etc.) In the Bible Tarshish is often 
associated with Javan, as in Isaiah 66. 19. Bochart identifies it 
with Tartessus (g. v.) or Gadier in Southern Spain, after dis- 
cussing the question at length, and rejecting the identification 
with Tarsus. (Pp. 195 fif., 662 ff.) The expression "ships of 
Tarshish" is often thought to refer to no particular place, but 
to mean merchant vessels suitable for long voyages; Tremel- 
lius and Junius translate "Tarshish" by " Oceanus." {Bihlia 
Sacra, London, 1585.) 



286 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Tartaria. II Pens. 115; P. L. 3. 432; 10. 431; Decl. Poland 8. 

462 (twice), 463, 465; Moscovia (1) 8. 475, 480; (4) 8. 490, 

491; (5) 8. 518; Commonplace 12. 

The land of the Tartars. According to Jenkinson's map, 
Tartaria is the region north and northeast of the Caspian Sea. 
Mercator, on his map of Tartaria, includes all the region east of 
the Volga and north of Persia and China. Purchas understands 
as Tartaria Asiatica "all the North parts of Asia" {Pilgrimage, 
p. 447), and adds: "They have no limitation of lands, nor tillage, 
nor house, but always wander thorow places not inhabited, 
feeding their Heards and Flocks." Cf. P. L. 3. 432. 

Tartessus. Eleg. 3. ZZ; Eleg. 5. 83; Comus 97 (cancelled and 
"Atlantick" substituted). (See also Gadier, Tarsus.) 

A region in southern Spain to the west of Gibraltar. The city 
of Tartessus was sometimes identified with Cadiz. Roman 
writers often employ the adjective to mean western {e. g., Ovid, 
Met. 14. 416), as Milton first planned to do in Comus. 

Taunton. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 170. 
A town of Somersetshire. 

Taurica (Tauric Fields). Pro Se Defens. 6. 372; Decl. Poland 
8. 465. (See also Crim.) 
The Crimea and the adjoining region. 

Tauric Pool. See MaBotis. 
Taurini. Lit. Oliv. (68) 7. 319. 

Augusta Taurinorum was the ancient name of Turin, a city 
of Piedmont especially important under the Dukes of Savoy. 

Tauris. P. L. 10. 436. (See also Bactrian, Casbeen, Ecbatan, 
Hispahan.) 

Tebriz or Tabriz, a city of Persia on a tributary of Lake 
LTrmiah. This city was commonly, but incorrectly, identified 
with Ecbatana; for example, Thomas Coryat says: "I entered 
Armenia the greater; after that Media the lower, and resided 
sixe dayes in the Metropolis thereof, heretofore called Ecbatana, 
the Summer seate of Cyrus his Court, a Citie oft-soone mentioned 
in the Scripture, now called Tauris." (Pilgrimes 1. 4. 593.) 
Davity also says that some, among them Ortelius, were of the 
same opinion. (P. 937.) Milton uses Ecbatan as equivalent 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 287 > 

to TauVis in P. L. 11. 393, for Tauris was a capital of Persia 
before Hispahan. John Cartwright describes the appea:rance 
of Tauris in 1603: "We spent six daies travell to Tauris, passing 
over the River xA.raxis, leaving Media Atropatia, and entring into 
Media the great. The chiefe of this Country is Tauris, memor- 
able for the resiance once of the Prophet Daniel, who neere unto 
the same builded a most magnificent Castle, which many yeeres 
remained a marvellous Monument; the beauty whereof was so 
lively and perfect that continuance of time did little deface it, 
being very fresh and flourishing in the time of Josephus. In this 
Castle were all the Kings of Media, Persia, and Parthia for many 
yeeres together intombed. But now time hath worne it out. . . . 
Nevertheless, Ecbatana, now called Tauris, remains in great 
glory unto this day. It is seated at the foot of the Hill Orontes, 
eight dayes journey or thereabouts from the Caspian Sea, and 
is subject to Windes, and full of Snow; yet of a very wholesome 
ayre, abounding with all things necessary for the sustentation of 
man: wonderfuU rich, as well by the perpetuall concourse of 
Merchandises, that are brought hither from the countries of the 
East, to bee conveyed into Syria, and into the countries of 
Europe; as also of those that come thither out of the Westerne 
parts, to be distributed over all the East. It is very populous, 
so that it feedeth almost two hundred thousand persons; but 
now open to the fury of every Armie without strength of wals, 
and without Bulwarkes, saving a Castle built of late by the 
Turkes. The buildings are of burnt Clay, and rather low then 
high. On the South side of this Citie is a most beautiful and 
flourishing Garden large and spacious, replenished with sundry 
kinds of Trees, and sweete smelling Plants, and a thousand 
Fountaines and Brookes, derived from a pretie River, which witfi 
his pleasant streame divides the Garden from the Citie; and is 
of so great beautie that for the delicacy thereof it is by the 
Countrey Inhabitants called Sechis-Genet, that is to say, the 
eight Paradises, and was in times past the standing house of 
the Persian Kings, whilst they kept their residence in this 
Citie, and after they with-drew their seate from thence, by 
reason of the Turkish warres, to Casbin, became the habitation 
and place of abode for the Persian Governors." {Pilgrimes 2. 
1429.) 



288 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Taurus. 8 Prolus. 7. 468. (See also Niphates.) 

The name Taurus was sometimes applied by the ancients to 
the series of mountains stretching from the Mediterranean across 
Asia to the eastern ocean (Pacific), as by Strabo (2. 5. 31), but 
usually to the mountains of Asia Minor and Armenia. 
Taus. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 66. 

An unidentified estuary. (Tacitus, Agricola, Sect. 22.) 
Tavira. See Tamira. 
Tavistoc. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 243. 

Tavistock, a town in Devonshire. 
Tawze. Moscovia (2) 8. 482. 

The Taz is a river of northern Siberia, flowing into the east 
side of the Gulf of Ob. Part of a description of a journey from 
"Pechora [q. v.] eastward" is as follows: "They enter into the 
River of Ob; and having rowed a little way up the same, they 
come to a place which they likewise call Zavorot; which signifieth 
a turning, winding, or entring into a place. . . . They turn into 
the Tawze Reca, stirring away South to Tawze River; but it is 
foure and twentie houres sayle, or fortie leagues from the River 
of Ob, before they come into any part of the Tawze Reca. . . . 
When they are entred into this Tawze River, they have foure 
dayes and foure nights sayling to Tawze Castle, with a faire 
wind and a stiffe gale." {Pilgrimes 3. 539.) 

Tayth. Moscovia (3) 8. 487. 

An unidentified city of central Asia on the route from Siberia 
to China. Milton's knowledge of the city comes from the 
accounts of Cossack travelers, of which he speaks with approval 
in the Preface of Moscovia: "Tayth ... is built of stone, 
large, and high walled, and is in compasse two dales travel 
about. At the first^ comming to it are five gates barred and 
bolted with Iron, very thicke and close, fastned with Nails; 
the houses and shops, or Ware-houses are all built of stone, 
wherein are all manner of Merchandizes, Spices, or grocerie, and 
precious things more abundant then in the aforesaid Cities. . . . 
There we saw Sinamon, Anniseeds, Apples, Arbuzes, Melons, 
Cucumbers, Onions, Garlicke, Radish, Carrets, Parsenips, Tur- 
nops. Cabbage, Limons, Poppiseeds, Nutmegs, Rice, Almonds, 
Pepper, Rubarbe, and many other Fruits, which we know not; 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 289 

so that they want nothing whatsoever groweth in the World." 
(Pilgrimes 3. 800.) 

Taz. See Tawze. 
Tebriz. See Tauris. 
Tela. Eleg. 6. 22. 

Teos was a town in Ionia, the birthplace of Anacreon, called 
by Ovid the Teian Muse. (Tr. 2. 364.) 

Telassar. P. L. 4. 214. (See also Eden, Seleucia.) 

A place in Mesopotamia not exactly identified. Milton's refer- 
ence depends on 2 Kings 19. 12 and Isaiah 37. 12, and he puts the 
place on the eastern border of Eden, apparently identifying it 
with Seleucia on the Tigris. This is in accord with Tremellius 
and Junius, who write of Telessar: "Quae postea Seleucia dicta 
est, Hhedenis metropolis." (Biblia Sacra, London, 1585, note 
on 2 Kings 19. 12.) 

Telta. Moscovia (2) 8. 483. (See also Comgoscoi.) 

An unidentified river of Siberia, probably the Tom, a tributary 
of the Ob. "Above Narim as men travaile toward the East, 
they meete with the River Telta; on the banke whereof they have 
builded a Castle, named Comgof-scoi." (Pilgrimes 3. 527.) 

Temesa. Quint. Nov. 207. 

An ancient city on the western coast of Calabria, supposed to 
be the Temesa mentioned by Homer as a place where copper was 
obtained. (Odyssey 1. 184.) See also Ovid, Met. 15. 707. 

Temsford. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 217, 218. 

A village in the northeast part of Bedfordshire, on the River 
Ouse. 

Teneriff. P. L. 4. 987; Lit. Oliv. (30) 7. 273. (See also 

Canaries.) 

Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, on which is the Peak 
of Tenerife. Sir John Hawkins writes: "In this Hand of 
Teneriffe there is a hill called The Pike, because it is piked, 
which is in height by their reports twentie leagues, having both 
winter and summer abundance of snowe in the top of it. This 
Pike may bee scene in a cleere day fiftie leagues off, but it sheweth 
as though it were a blacke cloude a great height in the element. 



290 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

I have heard of none to be compared with this in heigth." (Hak. 
3.502.) Cf. Donne: 

Doth not a Tenarif or higher Hill 

Rise so high like a Rocke, that one might thinke 

The floating Moone would shipwracke there and sinke? 

{The First Anniversary 286-8.) 

It is also described in Tasso (trans. Fairfax) : 

Far off a hill and mountain high they spied, 
Whose top the clouds environ, clothe and hide; 

And drawing near, the hill at ease they view, 
When all the clouds were molten, fallen and fled. 
Whose top pyramid-wise did pointed show. 
High, narrow, sharp, the sides yet more outspread. 
Thence now and then fire, flames and smoke outflew. 

(15. 33-4.) 

He mentions also the snow on the mountain. (15. 46, 52, 53.) 

Teos. See Teia. 

Teredon. P. R. 3. 292. (See also Balsara, Euphrates.) 

An ancient city near the mouth of the stream formed by the 
junction of the Tigris and Euphrates. (Strabo 16. 3. 2, 4.) 
Dionysius Periegetes says that the River Euphrates "at its 
very mouth flows near Teredon." (Line 982). The exact con- 
dition at the time of Alexander the Great, when Nearchus, 
one of his officers, visited Teredon, is unknown. It changes 
because of the great amount of silt brought down by the rivers, 
and the ease with which they alter their channels. The city did 
not occupy the site of the modern Busra (Balsara) though it 
fulfilled the same function. There is a tradition that Teredon 
was built by Nebuchadnezzar, though it is "of later fame" in 
that it first became known in the time of Alexander. (Smith, 
Diet. Classical Geog., s. v.) 

Ternate. P. L. 2. 639. (See also Banda, Tidore.) 

Ternate and Tidore are two islands of the Moluccas in the 
East Indies. The following is given by Purchas: "The Hands of 
the Spicerie, which properly are called so, because all the Pepper, 
Cloves, Sinamon, Ginger, Nutmegs, and Masticke that is spent 
in Europe is brought from them, are many, though the most 
famous of that Gulfe are five small Hands under the Equinoctiall 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 291 

in one hundred nintie foure degrees from the Meridian of Toledo, 
included in the morgage which the Emperor Charles the fift 
made of them to the King of Portugall for three hundred and 
fifty thousand Duckets, which are Terrenate of eight or nine 
leagues compasse, with a Port called Talangame, and in it 
raigned Corala, which yielded himself for subject to the King of 
Castile, when the Shippes that remained of Magilanes fleete 
found these Hands. The Hand of Tidore stands one league from 
Terrenate to the South; it hath tenne leagues compasse." 
(Pilgrimes 3. 904.) Elsewhere we read: Of the Hands of 
Molucca "Tarenate is the chief est; and the King thereof was 
sometime Lord of them all. . . . The Clove-trees are as bigge 
as a man about, tall; the Boughes large in the midst, and pointed 
at the top ; the Leaves, as of Bay-trees ; the Barke of Olive colour. 
The Cloves grow ten and twentie together, in the tops of the 
Boughes; first white, red at ripenesse, black by the drying. 
They gather them twice a yeere, in June and December, The 
Leafe, Barke, and Wood being greene, is as strong as the Clove. 
If they take them not in their time, they grow great and hard. 
Every man hath his owne Trees, and bestowes little Husbandry 
on them." (lb. I. 244.) The value of the spices produced in 
these islands made them the scene of much strife, among both 
the natives and the various European traders. Milton mentions 
some of the Spice Islands, though not Ternate and Tidore, in his 
papers setting forth the claims of the English for satisfaction 
for injuries inflicted by the Dutch. (Lit. Senat. (44, 45) 7. 234, 
235.) Camoens writes of them in the Lusiads: 

Here see o'er Oriental seas bespread 
Infinite island-groups and alwhere strewed : 
Tidore, Ternate view, whose burning head 
Lanceth the wavy flame and fiery flood: 
There see the groves the biting clove-bud shed, 
Bought with the price of Portugheze's blood. 

(10. 132, trans. Burton.) 
Tesiphon. See Ctesiphon. 

TetnaL Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 215. 
Tettenhall, in Staffordshire. 

Tettenhall. See Tetnal. 



292 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Teumesius. Eleg. 6. 23. 

Pertaining to Teumessus, a range of mountains separating 
the plain of Thebes, Boeotia, from the valley of the Asopus. 

Teutonici Agri. See Germany. 

Thames (Tamigi, Thame, Thamesis). Sonnet 3. 10; Vacat. Ex. 

100; Eleg. 1. 9; Mansus 32; Damon. 3, 177; Ad. Rous. 18; 

Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 22; (2) 5. 40, 41, 49, 50; (4) 5. 187; (5) 5. 

193 (twice), 200, 203, 206, 207, 208 (twice), 209, 214, 221, 231; 

(6) 5. 242, 249 (twice), 250, 251, 253, 256, 259, 263, 271, 283; 

Lit. Oliv. (25) 7. 268; (43) 7. 290; Lit. Rich. (11) 7. 342. 

The "Royal Towred Thame" (i. e., Thames) of Vacat. Ex, 
100 is celebrated by Spenser: 

On his head like to a Coronet 
He wore, that seemed strange to common vew, 
In which were many towres and castels set, 
That it encompast round as with a golden fret. 

Like as the mother of the Gods, they say. 

In her great iron charet wonts to ride, 

When to loues pallace she doth take her way: 

Old Cybele, arayd with pompous pride, 

Wearing a Diademe embattild wide 

With hundred turrets, like a Turribant. 

With such an one was Thamis beautifide; 

That was to weet the famous Troynouant, 

In which her kingdomes throne is chiefly resiant. 

(F. Q. 4. 11. 27-8.) 
Drayton writes in the same strain : 

The faire and goodly Tames . . . 

With Kingly houses Crown'd, of more then earthly pride, 

Upon his either Banks, as he along doth glide 

With wonderful delight, doth his long course pursue, 

Where Otlands, Hampton Court, and Richmond he doth view, 

Then Westminster the next great Tames doth entertaine; 

That vaunts her Palace large, and her most sumptuous Fane: 

The Lands tribunall seate that challengeth for hers, 

The crowning of our Kings, their famous sepulchers. 

(Polyolbion 17.) 

In Eleg. 1 Milton speaks of London as "urbs reflua quam 
Thamesis alluit unda" ("the city which Thames washes against 
with its refluant stream"). Probably he means that, as Drayton 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 293 

says in a marginal note, "Tames ebbes and flowes beyond Rich- 
mond." Drayton explains it as follows: 

When Tames now understood, what paines the Mole did take, 
How farre the loving Nymph adventur'd for his sake; 
Although with Medway matcht, yet never could remove 
The often quickning sparks of his more ancient love 
So that it comes to passe, when by great Natures guide 
The Ocean doth returne, and thrusteth in the Tide; 
Up tow'rds the place, where first his much lov'd Mole was seen, 
He ever since doth flow, beyond delightfull Sheene. 

(Polyolbion 17.) 

In preceding verses Drayton represents Thames as having been 
in love with the Mole before his espousals with the Medway. 
Milton does not refer to this theme, so fully treated by Spenser 
(F. Q. 4. 11), though his linking of "Medway smooth," and 
"Royal Towred Thame" in one line suggests it. The "caeruleis 
patris" ("dark-blue father") of Ad Rous. 18 suggests JEneid 
8. 64, where Father Tiber is called "caeruleus." The affection of 
Milton for the Thames appears in the words "Thamesis meus." 
{Damon. 177.) Masson translates as follows lines 30-4 of 
Manstis: 

We also think that we have heard the swans in our river 
Making music at night through all the shadowy darkness. 
Where our silver Thames, at breadth of her pure gushing current, 
Bathes with tidal whirl the yellow locks of the Ocean. 

They suggest the Prothalamion of Spenser, with its mention of 
swans, and such expressions as "silver streaming Themmes." 
(Line 11.) In that day Thames could more properly be called 
"silver" than now. 

Thanet. See Tanet. 

1. Thebes (Echionius, Ogygius, Thebae). II Pens. 99; Eleg. 6. 

68; Quint. Nov. 65; P. L. 1. 578; P. R. 4. 572; Tetrach. (Matt. 

5. 31, 32) 4. 202; Logic (1. 25) 7. 81 (twice). (See also 

Ismenian.) 

An ancient city of Boeotia, famous in Greek history and litera- 
ture. The adjective Echionius, derived from the name of Echion, 
one of the heroes who sprang from the dragon's teeth sown by 
Cadmus, means Theban. 



294 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

2. Thebes, Egyptian. P. L. 5. 274. (See also Arabia.) 

An ancient city of Upper Egypt, on the Nile. Diodorus 
speaks of it as "not only the most beautiful and stateliest city 
of Egypt, but of all others in the world." (1. 50.) He describes 
it at length, mentioning among other things the knowledge of 
astronomy possessed by the inhabitants. Herodotus tells the 
story of the phoenix as follows: "There is also another sacred 
bird which I did not myself see except in painting, for in truth he 
comes to them very rarely, at intervals, as the people of Heliopolis 
say, of five hundred years; and these say that he comes regularly 
when his father dies; and if he be like the painting, he is of this 
size and nature, that is to say, some of his feathers are of gold 
color and others red, and in outline and size he is as nearly as 
as possible like an eagle. This bird they say (but I cannot 
believe the story) contrives as follows : setting forth from Arabia 
he conveys his father, they say, to the temple of the Sun (Helios) 
plastered up in myrrh, and buries him in the temple of the Sun; 
and he conveys him thus : he first forms an egg of myrrh as large 
as he is able to carry, and then he makes trial of carrying it, 
and when he has made trial sufficiently, then he hollows out the 
egg and places his father within it and plasters over with other 
myrrh that part of the egg where he hollowed it out to put his 
father in, and when his father is laid in it, it proves (they say) 
to be of the same weight as it was; and after he has plastered it 
up, he conveys the whole to Egypt to the temple of the Sun." 
(2. 73.) It is to be observed that Herodotus here refers to the 
city of Heliopolis, in Lower Egypt, and not to Thebes. Various 
reasons for what seems Milton's mistake may be suggested. In 
the Bible Heliopolis is called " On " and Thebes "No." Diodorus 
says that the Egyptians called Thebes Heliopolis, and Herodotus 
begins the chapter following that describing the phoenix with the 
words: "There are also about Thebes," etc. Verity, however, 
in his edition of P. L., says that Milton probably "is following 
some version of the legend — and there are many — which has 
not been traced." 

Thebez (Thesbitis Terra). Eleg. 4. 97; P. R. 2. 16, 313. 

Thebez was a city of the tribe of Ephraim. (Judges 9. 50.) 
Milton is apparently without authority for making this city, 
rather than Thisbe across the Jordan, the city of Elijah the 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 295 

Tishbite (Thisbite), of whom it is said that he "was of the 
inhabitants of Gilead." (1 Kings 17. 1.) The name of his city 
is given by Josephus as Thesbe or Thesbon. (Antiq. 8. 13. 2.) 

Thelwel. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 219. 

Thelwall, in Cheshire. 
Theopolis. See Antioch. 
Thermodoon. Quint. Nov. 105. 

Thermodon is a river of Pontus, on which the Amazons were 
fabled to dwell. (^7teid 11. 659.) 

Thesbetis Terra. See Thebez. 

Thessalia (Heemonia). Eleg. 2. 7; P. L. 2. 544. 

Thessaly, the northeast part of Greece, bordering on the 
JEgean; called by the poets Hsemonia (e. g., Ovid, Met. 1. 568). 
It was famous for magic (Lucan, Pharsalia 6. 413-830), and 
hence, apparently, the magic herb of Comus 638 is called 
Haemony. 

Thessalonica. Decl. Poland 8. 468; Commonplace 181. 

Modern Salonica, a city at the head of the Gulf of Salonica, 
Greece. 

Thetford. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 200, 230; (6) 5. 246, 250. 

A town of Norfolk on the Ouse. 
Thisbite. See Thebez. 
Thorney. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 281. 

An island of the coast of Wiltshire and Hampshire, named 
from the thorns growing on it. (Camden 1. 120.) 

Thrace (Odrysia, Thressa). Eleg. 4. 65, 77, 78; 6. 37; P. L. 7. 

34; Moscovia (4) 8. 489. 

The country north of the yEgean Sea, sometimes called 
Odrysia by the poets {e. g. Ovid, Met. 6. 490.) 

Thressa. See Thrace. 

Thule. Reformation (2) 3. 69. (See also Utmost Isles.) 

An island thought of by the ancients as the limit of inhabited 
land to the north. Camden writes as follows: "Thule, more 
famed than any other island by the poets, when they would 
express the most distant country as the remotest part of the 
world. Thus Virgil : 
20 



296 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 



Tibi serviat ultima Thule. 



While utmost Thule shall thy nod obey. 

{Georg. L 30.) 



Seneca : 



{Medea 2. 378.) 



Claudian: 



Silius Italicus: 



terrarum ultima Thule. 

Thule remotest portion of the globe. 

Thulem procul axe remotam. 

Thule most distant from the pole. 

{De Bel. Goth. 204.) 

ratibusque impervia Thule. 

Thule to seamen inaccessible. 

{Cons. Hon. 3. 53.) 

ignotam vincere Thulam. 

To conquer Thule yet unknown. 

(3. 597.) 

And Amm. Marcellinus quotes as a proverb, 'Though he Hved 
in Thule.' (18. 6.) . . . Thule is put for Britain in these lines of 
Silius ItaHcus: 

Caarulus baud aliter cum dimicat incola Thule; 
Agmina falcifero circumvenit acta covino. 

Thus Thule's blue-stain'd native fights, 
And with the scythe-arm'd car the ranks surrounds. 

(17. 416-7.) 
And so in the Sylva of Statins : 

refluo circumsona gurgite Thule. 

Thule whom ebbing tides surround. 

(5. 1.91.)." (3. 726.) 

After referring to many authorities, among them the Jovius 
whom Milton mentions in the Preface of Moscovia, Camden 
comes to the conclusion that Thule is Shetland. 

Thusca Urbs. See Florence. 

Thuscus. See Tuscany. 

Thyatira. Animadv. (13. 76) 3. 227; Civil Power 5. 325. 

A city of Lydia, Asia Minor, mentioned in Revelation 2. 18-24. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 297 

Tiber. 3 Leonor. 5; Ad Sal. 36; Quint. Nov. 52; P. R. 4. 32; 

Grammar (2) 6. 487. 

A river of Italy, rising in the Apennines, and flowing past 
Rome into the Tyrrhene Sea. Milton's references are possibly 
influenced by the familiarity with the river he gained during his 
visits to Rome. 

Tiberias. Divorce (Pref.) 4. 11. 

A city of Palestine on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee. 
Early in the Christian era Tiberias was a centre of Jewish scholar- 
ship, and as late as the twelfth century the best manuscripts of 
the Torah were to be found there. 

Tibur. Grammar (1) 6. 434. 

An ancient town of Latium, now Tivoli. 
Tidore. P. L. 2. 639. See Ternate. 
Tiebi. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 118. 

Towy, a river of Carmarthenshire, Wales. Milton puts the 
river in North Wales, though Nennius, whom, according to his 
note, he is following, says it is in the country of the Demeti, 
South Wales. 

Tigris (Great River). P. L. 9. 71 ; 11. 829; P. R. 3. 256. (See 

also Euphrates.) 

A great river of Asia, rising in Armenia, and joining with the 
Euphrates near the Persian Gulf. Milton, following Josephus, 
makes the Tigris one of the rivers of Paradise, identifying it with 
the Scriptural Hiddekel. (Genesis 2. 14.) Josephus writes: 
"Tigris is also called Deglath, which denotes swift with narrow- 
ness." (Antiq. 1. 1. 3.) It is often contrasted with the winding 
Euphrates, as by Mela (3. 8), and Dionysius Periegetes (for the 
quotation, see Euphrates). It is the "strait" river of P. R. 
3. 256. With a similar idea Spenser wrote: 

And Tygris fierce, whose streames of none may be withstood. 

{F. Q.4.n. 20. 9.) 
Timna. Samson 219, 383, 795, 1018. 

Timnah, a town "on the north frontier of the tribe of Judah 
between Bethshemish and Ekron. (Joshua 15. 10.) At one 
time it was counted in the territory of Dan (Joshua 19. 43), 
but at another it was in Philistine possession (Judges 14. 1). . . . 
It is now identified with Tihneh, on the south side of the Wady 



298 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Sarar, 2 miles west of Beth-shemish." (Hastings, Dictionary of 
the Bible, s. v.) 

Timolus. Epist. Fam. (2) 7. 371. 

Tmolus, a mountain in Lydia, the scene of a contest in musi- 
cal skill between Pan and Apollo. (Ovid, Met. 11. 157-71.) 

Tine. Vacat. Ex. 98; Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 73; (4) 5. 154, 179; (5) 5. 

199,203; (6) 5. 295. 

The Tyne, a river of north England, flowing into the North 
Sea. Newcastle on the Tyne is celebrated for its coal. Drayton 
represents Tyne as saying: 

those mighty ships, that in my mouth I beare, 
Fraught with my country Coale, of this Newcastle nam'd. 
For which both farre and neere, that place no lesse is fam'd. 
Then India for her Mynes. 

{Polyolbion 29.) 
Tingoesia. Moscovia (3) 8. 484. 

The country of the Tunguses, in eastern Siberia. 
Tinna. Moscovia (2) 8. 483. 

Probably Tiumen,, a town in the government of Tobolsk, 
Siberia. "Here is used much buying and selling of costly 
Furres, betweene the Muscovites, Tartars, and Samoieds." 
{Pilgrimes 3. 526.) 

Tinterne. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 135. 

Tintern, a place in Monmouthshire, on the right bank of the 
River Wye, famous for the ruins of the monastery there. 

Tithonia Arva. Eleg. 5.31. 

The Tithonian Fields are the lands in the extreme east where 
the Dawn, wife of Tithonus, is supposed to dwell. 

Tiumen. See Tinna. 
Tivoli. See Tibur. 
Tlemcen. See Tremisen. 
Tmolus. See Timolus. 
Tobol. Moscovia (2) 8. 483. 

A river of western Siberia, tributary to the Irtish. 
Tobolsca. Moscovia (2) 8. 483; (3) 8. 486. 

Tobolsk, a town of western Siberia, near the junction of the 
Rivers Irtish and Tobol. Tobolsca is "the chiefe of all the 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 299 

Townes of Siberia ; wherein is the seat of the chiefe Governour of 
Siberia, and of the Moscovites that are in the same. To this 
place yeerely are brought from the other Townes of the whole 
Countrey, as well on this side as beyond Oby, the tributes, which 
being brought together, and guarded with Souldiers, are after 
carried into Moscovia to the Emperour." (Pilgrimes 3. 526.) 

Toledo. Colast. 4. 357 (twice). 
A city of Spain on the Tagus. 
Tolga. See Volga. 

Tolouse (Tolosa, Toulouse). Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 276; Hist. 

Brit. (2) 5. 90; 2 Defens. 6. 309; Commonplace 191. 

A city of France on the Garonne. 
Tomitanus Ager. Eleg. 1. 22. (See also CorallaBus.) 

Tomis, or Tomi, is a town of Moesia, on the Euxine, to which 
Ovid was banished. 

Tomsk. See Tooma. 
Tooina. See Tooma. 
Tooma (Tooina). Moscovia (2) 8. 483; (3) 8. 486 (thrice). 

Tomsk, a city of western Siberia on the River Tom, an east- 
ern tributary of the Obi. "Tooina," a misprint, appears once 
in the first edition of Moscovia. "Having sayled two hundred 
leagues up the River Oby, they lighted upon a Country very 
fruitful and pleasant. . . . They took occasion ... to send 
word of these things into Moscovia. Boris Godonova was then 
Emperor there, who . . . commanded the Governour of Siberia, 
that with all speed hee should cause a Citie to bee builded there. 
The Governour obeyed, and there was a Castle builded upon 
his commandement, with certaine houses adjoyned; so that now 
it is a large Citie. . . . The name thereof is Tooma. . . . And 
now this citie is so mightie that in processe of time some reason- 
able great Kingdome is likely to grow out off it." {Pilgrimes 
3. 526-7.) 

Tophet. See Himiom. 

Torchester (Tovechester) . Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 217, 218. 

Towcester, Northamptonshire. The form "Torchester" is 
from Camden's description of the county. (2. 166.) 



300 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Torksey. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 203. 
A town in Lindsey, Lincolnshire. 

Tortuga (Association). Contra Hisp. 7. 355, 356, 357 (twice), 

358 (thrice), 365. (See also Providence.) 

A small island north of Haiti. It was granted by Charles I 
to the Providence Island Company in 1631, and by them called 
Association. The Spanish recaptured it in 1636. References to 
the history of the island are given by Violet Barbour, in The 
American Historical Review 16. 538, note. 

Totness. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 12. 
A town in Devonshire. 

Toulouse. See Tolouse. 

Touraine. See Turon. 

Tournay. Reformation (2) 3. 41. 

Tournai, a city of Hainaut, Belgium, on the Scheldt. 

Tours. Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 12. 

A city of France on the Loire. The fabulous account of the 
origin of the name given by Milton is from Geoffrey of Monmouth 
1. 15. 

Tovechester. See Torchester. 
Towcester. See Torchester. 
Towerhill. Eikonocl. (8) 3. 396 (twice). 

Tower Hill, an elevated spot near the Tower of London, of 
which Stow writes: "From and without the Tower ditch West 
and by North is the saide Tower hill, sometime a large plot of 
ground, now greatly streightned by incroachments (unlawfully 
made and suffered) for Gardens and Houses, some on the Banke 
of the Tower ditch, whereby the Tower ditch is marrd. . . . 
Upon this Hill is alwayes readily prepared at the charges of the 
cittie a large Scaffolde and Gallowes of Timber, for the execution 
of such Traytors or Transgressors as are delivered out of the 
Tower, or otherwise to the Shirififes of London by writ there to be 
executed." (1. 129.) 

Tower of London. Reformation (2) 3. 41; Eikonocl. (2) 3. 350; 
(6)3.377; (8)3.391; (9)3.403; (10)3.411. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 301 

A fortress at the eastern extremity of the wall of the city of 
London, on the River Thames, described by Camden as "a. 
noble citadel, encompassed with an extensive wall, with lofty 
towers, a rampart and wide ditch, a noble armoury, and several 
houses like a town." (2. 4.) In the time of Milton it was the 
usual prison for important political ofifenders. 

Town. See London. 

Towy. See Tiebi. 

Tracinia Rupes. See (Eta. 

Transylvania. Areopag. 4. 437; Decl. Poland 8. 462. 

Formerly an independent principality, now the eastern part 
of Hungary. Lit. Oliv. (9) 7. 247 is addressed to the prince of 
Transylvania, a Protestant. 

Treanta. See 1- Trent. 
Trebisond. P. L. 1. 584. 

Trebizond, an ancient city on the southeast shore of the Black 
Sea, the capital of a Greek Empire in the thirteenth, four- 
teenth, and fifteenth centuries. Verity, in his edition of P. L., 
quotes from Fallmerayer, the historian of Trebisond, the state- 
ment that the city "'became in popular romance and in the 
imagination of the Italians and Provencals one of the most 
famous empires of the east, and the rallying point of the youth 
and flower of Asia.' " He states that it is often mentioned in the 
heroic novel by Marini entitled // Caloandro, published in 1640- 
1, which had a wide circulation in the seventeenth century, and 
refers also to an occurrence of the name in Ivanhoe, chap. 44. 
Trebizond and its king are often mentioned in Marlowe's 2 
Tamburlaine; the following is the most striking passage : 

From Trebizon in Asia the lesse, 

Naturalized Turks and stout Bythinians 

Came to my bands full fifty thousand more, 

That fighting, knowes not what retreat doth meane. 

Nor ere returne but with the victory. 

(LI. 3542-6.) 

Still more light is shed on the romantic meaning of the word by 
the following: "Come (said Picrochole) let us go joyn with them 
quickly, for I will be Emperour of Trebezonde also." (Rabelais, 
trans. Urquhart, Gargantua 1. 3Z.) Picrochole has been per- 



302 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

suaded to make great conquests. Similarly we read of Don 
Quixote in his chivalrous dreams: "The poor poore soule did 
already figure himselfe crowned ... at least with the Empire 
of Trapesonda." {Don Qtdxote, 1. 1, trans. Shelton.) It also 
appears as a common name in romances in the following: "So 
many Emperours of Trapisonda, such a number of Felixmartes 
of Hyrcania." (lb. 4. 22.) The second suite of the romance 
entitled Les Quatres Fils Aimon (first ed., 1517) is La Conqueste 
de Trebizonde. The Italian version was called Trabisonda Istor- 
iata. (See L. Gautier, Les Epopees Frangaises 2. 628-31, Bib- 
liography, p. 162.) One may refer also to The Historie of Trebi- 
zonde, by Thomas Gainsford, a collection of romantic stories 
published in London in 1616. {Diet. Nat. Biog.) The name 
often appears in the Orlando Innamorato, e. g., 1. 11. 19. 2. 

Tremisen. P. L. 11. 404. (See also Almansor.) 

Now represented by the city of Tlemcen, in western Algeria. 
"This kingdome beginneth westward from the rivers of Zha and 
Muluia, eastward it bordereth upon The great river, southward 
upon the desert of Numidia, and northward upon the Mediter- 
ran sea. This region was called by the Romans Caesaria (Mauri- 
tania Caesariensis) . . . . This kingdome stretcheth in length from 
east to west 380 miles, but in bredth from north to south, that is, 
from the Mediterran sea to the deserts of Numidia not above 
five and twenty miles. . . . Telensin (Tremizen) is a great 
citie and the royall seate of the king." (Leo Africanus, pp. 659- 
67.) Milton refers in Commonplace 57 to a passage in which 
Leo writes of the Numidians south of Tremisen: "They take 
great delight in poetrie, and will pen most excellent verses, their 
language being very pure and elegant. If any woorthie poet be 
found among them, he is accepted by their governours with 
great honour and liberalitie: neither would any man easily 
believe what wit and decencie is in their verses." (P. 158.) 

1. Trent (Treanta). Vacat. Ex. 93; Damon. 176; Hist. Brit. 

(4) 5. 161, 166; (5) 5. 203; (6) 5. 252. 

A river of England rising in northern Staffordshire, and finally 
uniting with the Ouse to form the Humber. Milton had good 
authority for associating the number thirty with Trent. Spenser 
writes : 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 303 

And bounteous Trent, that in him selfe enseames 
Both thirty sorts of fish, and thirty sundry streames. 

(F. (2. 4. IL 35. 8-9.) 

Drayton says of the Trent : 

A more usuall power did in that name consist. 
Which thirty doth import; by which she thus divin'd, 
There should be found in her, of Fishes thirty kind; 
And thirty Abbeys great, in places fat and ranke, 
Should in succeeding time be builded on her banke; 
And thirtie several 1 Streames from many a sundry way, 
Unto her greatnesse should their watry tribute pay. 

(Polyolbion 12.) 

He repeats this idea in a later description of the Trent, where he 
writes also, in words that suggest Vacat. Ex. 94: 

I throw my Cristall Armes along the Flowry Vallies, 
Which lying sleeke, and smooth, as any Garden-Allies, 
Doe give me leave to play, whilst they do Court my Streame. 

{Polyolbion 26.) 

2. Trent (Tridentum). Forcers of Consc. 14; Eikonocl. (11) 

3. 425; (17) 3. 462; (28) 3. 521; Divorce (2. 5) 4. 75; Tetrach. 

(Matt. 5. 31,32)4. 200; Areopag. 4. 421; Hirelings 5. 361, 363; 

Commonplace 109 (3 times), 112 (4 times), 179, 184, 189. 

A city of Tyrol on the River Adige. Milton mentions it only 
in connection with the famous ecumenical council held there 
from 1545 to 1563. 

Treves. See Trevir. 

Trevir. Commonplace 112. 

Treves, a city of southwestern Prussia, on the Moselle. 
Tridentum. See 1. Trent. 
Trinacrian Shore. See Sicily. 
Trinovant. See London. 
Triton. P. L. 4. 276. (See also Irassa, Nyseian He.) 

The River Triton is at present represented by a salt lake, not 
connected with the sea, known as the Chott el-Djerid, in modern 
Tunis. Its outlet has been blocked, perhaps by an upheaval 
of the coast. It should be noted, however, that the ancients 
(e. g., Dionysius Periegetes, line 267) sometimes refer to it as a 
lake rather than a river. On the map of Africa Propria in the 



304 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Parergon of Ortelius the Triton is a river of considerable length 
flowing into Syrtis Minor. A lake some distance from the sea is 
Tritonis palus, and in it is Phila insula, on which is the city of 

Nysa. 

Troas. Doct. Christ. (2. 7) 2. 338. 

A seaport of northwestern Asia Minor, opposite the southeast 
extremity of the island of Tenedos. 

Troia. See Troy. 
Troia Nova. See London. 
Troitsko. See Trojetes. 
Trojetes. Moscovia (1) 8. 479. 

Troitsko-Serguyevsjaya, a monastery at Sergiyevo, a town 
north-northeast of Moscow. Milton's information is from Hak. 
1. 320. 
Trophonii Antrum. 3 Prolus. 7. 425; 6 Prolus.'7. 445. 

The cave of Trophonius, at Lebadea, Boeotia, was the seat of 
a celebrated oracle. 

Troy (Ilion, Ilium, Pergamus, Troia). II Pens. 100; Eleg. 1. 68 
Eleg. 2. 13; Procancel. 14; Quint. Nov. 30; P. L. 1. 578; 9. 16 
Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 7, 11, 13, 27; Notes: Grif. 5. 395 (twice) 
2 Defens. 6. 269, 331; Grammar (1) 6. 437; (2) 6. 487; Logic 
(1. 27) 7. 88. (See also Dardanius.) 
A city of the Troad besieged and taken by the Greeks in the 

Trojan war. 

Troyes. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 105. 

A city of France, on the Seine. 
Trutulensis. See Rutupise. 
Tunguses. See Tingoesia. 
Turchestan. P. L. 11. 396. 

A part of central Asia in the region of the Sir-Daria (Jaxartes 
River), now ruled by Russia. Writers of the time of Milton 
give it somewhat wider limits. (Pilgrimes 3. 137.) By calling 
the sultan "Turchestan born" Milton refers to the origin of the 
Turks in central Asia; as Knolles puts it: "This barbarous 
nation took their first beginning out of the bare and cold country 
of Scythia." {History of the Turks, p. 2.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 305 

Turin. See Taurini. 
Turkestan. See Turchestan. 

Turkish (Turci, Turks). P. L. 10. 434; Eikonocl. (27) 3. 508, 

509; Lit. Oliv. (64) 7. 314 (thrice); Decl. Poland 8. 460, 462, 

463 (twice). (See also Bizance.) 

In the time of Milton the Turks, with their capital at Con- 
stantinople {q. v.), were a powerful nation, occupying, in addition 
to much of eastern Asia and northern Africa, the southeastern 
part of Europe far beyond their recent limits. John Sobieski, 
whose earlier exploits are mentioned in Decl. Poland, aided in 
the rescue of Vienna from the Turks in 1683. 
Turon. Reformation (1) 3. 16. 

Touraine, a division of France traversed by the River Loire; 
its chief city is Tours. 
Tuscany (Etruria, Hetruria, Hetrusca Ditio, Thuscus). Quint. 

Nov. 51; Mansus 4; Damon. Arg., 13, 126, 127; Comus 48; 

Sonnet 17. 12; P. L. 1. 288, 303; Lit. Senat. (17) 7. 202; (20) 

7. 205. '(See also Florence.) 

A division of northwest Italy bordering on the Tyrrhenian Sea. 
Milton spent some time in Tuscany during his travels in Italy. 
In his time it was ruled by a grand duke. 
Tusculum. Divorce (2. 3) 4. 69; Epist. Fam. (4) 7. 373. 

A city of Latium, about fifteen miles southeast of Rome, 
where there were many villas of wealthy Romans, among them 
that of Cicero. 
Tweed. Vacat. Ex. 92; Divorce (Pref.) 4. 11. 

A river, on the boundary of England and Scotland, flowing 
into the North Sea. Spenser, like Milton, finds little to say 
about it except that it is "the limit betwixt Logris land and 
Albany." {F. (2- 4. 11. 36. 6-7.) 
Tyne. See Tine. 
Tygurus. See Zuric. 
TyraL See Tyras. 
Tyras (Tyral). Decl. Poland 8. 462, 463, 464. 

Now called Dniester, a river flowing into the Black Sea north 
of the Danube. "Tyral" is a misprint at least as early as the 
edition of 1698. 



306 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Tyre (Sarra). Nativity 204; Comus 342; Ps. 83. 27; 87. 15; 

P. L. 11. 243. 

An ancient seaport of Phoenicia, famous especially for the dye 
called Tyrian purple. 

Tyrrhen Sea (Southern Sea, Tyrrhenus Pontus). Comus 49; 

Quint. Nov. 108; P. R. 4. 28; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 11 (twice). 

(See also Circe's Hand.) 

The Tyrrhenian Sea, that part of the Mediterranean south- 
west of Italy. 

Ucalegonium. Animadv. (3. 37) 3. 213. 

A city in Mundus Alter et Idem (1. 8), the Utopia of Bishop 
Hall. 

Uladislau. Decl. Poland 8. 458. 

Wladyslawow, a town in the government of Kalisz, Poland. 

Ulster (Ultonia). Eikonocl. (28) 3. 529; Ormond 4. 567, 569; 1 

Defens. (5) 6. 99. 

The province occupying northeast Ireland. 
Ultonia. See Ulster. 
Ulyssipo. See Olissipo. 

United Provinces (Batavia, Foederatae Provinciae). Reformation 
(2) 3. 46; Rupt. Com. 5. 402; Easy Way 5. 426, 436, 451; 1 
Defens. (5) 6. 98; Pro Se Defens. 6. 338, 365, 366, 377; Lit. 
Oliv. (36) 7. 283. (See also Netherlands.) 
The seven provinces of the Low Countries, which to-day 
constitute the kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1579 they laid 
the foundation of the Dutch Republic by forming the Union of 
Utrecht. The seventeenth century, when they were the com- 
mercial rivals of England, was the time of their greatest pros- 
perity. For evidence of their rivalry see Lit. Senat. (44, 45) 
7. 234, 235. 

University. See Cambridge. 

Ur. P. L. 12. 130. 

Now, as in the time of Milton, usually placed on the west 
bank of the Euphrates, below Babylon. It has also been 
identified with the Greek city of Edessa, in Mesopotamia. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 307 

This would be in harmony with Acts 7. 2, where Abraham is 
said to have dwelt beyond the River, before he dwelt in Haran, 
and seems to be accepted by Milton in P. L. 12. 114, where 
Abraham is said to reside "on this side Euphrates," that is, on 
the eastern side, toward the Garden. But in line 130 Abraham 
is represented as "passing the Ford to Haran," which would not 
be possible if Ur were on the east side of the Euphrates, for Haran 
is also on the east side. If Ur is on the west bank, Abraham 
would have crossed the Euphrates on his way to Haran. Such 
a route is represented by Ortelius on his map of the Journeys of 
Abraham. {Par ergon, p. 2^.) It seems as though Milton wrote 
first with one site, then with the other, in mind. 

Usa. See Ouse. 

Usk (Osca). Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 22; (2) 5. 84. 

A river of Monmouthshire, flowing into the Bristol Channel. 

Ustiug. Moscovia (1) 8. 474. 

Ustiug Weliki, a town of northern Russia. Jenkinson tells of 
coming, on his way up the Dwina, to Ustiug, "an ancient citie." 
(Hak. 1. 312.) The distance of five hundred versts from Col- 
mogro to Ustiug is given in Hakluyt 1. 363. 

Utmost Isles. P. L. 1. 521. (See also Thule.) 

The islands beyond France, perhaps as far as Thule, especially 
the British Isles. The wanderings of Comus, which end in 
Wales, are much the same as those of the false gods: 

Comus , . . 
Roaving the Celtick, and Iberian fields. 
At last betakes him to this ominous Wood. 

{Comus 58-6L) 
Uxbridge. Eikonocl. (18) 3. 468, 470. 

A town of Middlesex on the River Colne, where, in 1645, 
commissioners of Charles I and Parliament made an unsuccessful 
attempt to conclude a treaty. 

Uzzean. P. R. 1. 369; 3. 94. 

Living in the land of Uz. As Milton suggests by the words 
"land . . . obscure," the situation of this country where Job 
dwelt (Job 1. 1), is uncertain. It is usually placed east of 
Palestine. Fuller represents it as east of Edom, in Arabia 
Deserta. (Pp. 449, map, 467.) 



308 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Vaigatz. See Vaiguts. 

Vaiguts. Moscovia (1) 8. 473. (See also Pechora.) 

Vaigatz or Waigatz is an island off the north coast of Russia, 
east of the mouth of the Pechora, and separated from the con- 
tinent by the straits of Vaigatz, to which Milton refers. The 
straits, often mentioned in the narratives of the search for the 
Northeast Passage, were sometimes also called Borroughs' 
Straits, after one of the early voyagers. The instructions given 
by the Moscovy Company to Pet and Jackman when they went 
in search of the Passage are in part as follows: "The said Gouver- 
nours and company have hired the said Arthur Pet . . . and 
likewise the said Charles Jackman for a voyage by them to be 
made by Gods grace, for search and discoveries of a passage by 
sea from hence by Boroughs streights, and the Island Vaigats, 
Eastwards, to the countries or dominions of the mightie Prince, 
the Emperour of Cathay. . . . And when you come to Vaigats, 
we would have you to get sight of the maine land of Samoeda, 
which is over against the South part of the same Island, and 
from thence with Gods permission to passe Eastwards along the 
same coast, keeping it always in your sight untill you come to 
the mouth of the river Ob." (Hak. 1. 433.) The'explorers went 
beyond the island of Vaigatz, but, because of the ice, were unable 
to reach the Ob. This is not strange, for Purchas says: "Neither 
hereafter will I marvell, though the Streight of Waygats bee 
stopped up to the North-east with such huge Mountaines of Ice, 
since the Rivers Obi and Jenisce, and very many more, whose 
names are not yet knowne, powre out so huge a quantitie thereof, 
that in a manner it is incredible. For it commeth to passe 
in the beginning of the spring, that in places neere unto the 
Sea the Ice through the excessive thicknesse and multitude 
thereof doth carrie downe whole floods before it. . . . And 
whereas in that Streight neere unto Nova Zembla it is extreme 
cold, it is no marvell if in regard to the narrownesse of the Streight 
so huge heaps of Ice are gathered and frozen together, that in 
the end they grow to sixtie, or at least to fiftie fathoms thick- 
nesse. . . . For I am readie to prove that this is no passible 
way, that thay will still lose their labour, whosoever shall attempt 
the same." (Pilgrimes 3. 527.) The masses of ice are called 
"mightie mountains" in the relation of Frobisher's voyage to 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 309 

the northwest, and similar expressions are frequent in early 
narratives of Arctic exploration. Cf. P. L. 10. 289-93. 

Valdarno. P. L. 1. 290. (See also Arno, Florence.) 

The upper part of the valley of the River Arno, where Florence 
is situated. It is noted for its beauty and fertility. During his 
stay in Florence Milton probably visited various parts of it. 
At Arcetri, in the villa called II Giojello, he visited Galileo, 
then a prisoner of the Inquisition, (Areopag. 4. 428.) 

Valentinia. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 88. (See also Wall of Severus.) 
The district of Roman Britain north of the Wall of Severus 
and south of the Wall of Antoninus. 

Vallombrosa. P. L. 1. 303. 

A celebrated convent of Tuscany, in a small valley opening 
at Tosi into the Vicano-Baches, a right-hand tributary of the 
Arno. The fidelity of Milton's description is attested by Words- 
worth in his lines entitled At Vallombrosa, and in the note on 
them. He writes in part: 

The Flood, 
That lulled me asleep, bids me listen once more. 
Its murmur how soft ! as it falls down the steep, 
Near that Cell — yon sequestered Retreat high in air — 
Where our Milton was wont lonely vigils to keep 
For converse with God, sought through study and prayer. 

The Monks still repeat the tradition with pride, 
And its truth who shall doubt? for his Spirit is here; 
In the cloud-piercing rocks doth her grandeur abide. 
In the pines pointing heavenward her beauty austere; 
In the flower-besprent meadows his genius we trace 
Turned to humbler delights, in which youth might confide, 
That would yield him fit help while prefiguring that Place 
Where, if Sin had not entered. Love never had died. . . . 

And now, ye Miltonian shades! under you 

I repose, nor am forced from sweet fancy to part. 

While your leaves I behold and the brooks they will strew, 

And the realized vision is clasped to my heart. 

The note is as follows: "The name of Milton is pleasingly con- 
nected with Vallombrosa in many ways. The pride with which 
the Monk, without any previous question from me, pointed out 
his residence, I shall not readily forget. It may be proper here 



310 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

to defend the Poet from a charge which has been brought against 
him in respect to the passage in Paradise Lost where this 
place is mentioned. It is said that he has erred in speaking of 
the trees there being deciduous, whereas they are, in fact, pines. 
The fault-finders are themselves mistaken; the natural woods 
of the region of Vallombrosa are deciduous, and spread to a 
great extent; those near the convent are, indeed, mostly pines; 
but they are avenues of trees planted within a few steps of each 
other, and thus composing large tracts of wood ; plots of which 
are periodically cut down. The appearance of those narrow 
avenues, upon steep slopes open to the sky, on account of the 
height to which the trees attain by being forced to grow upwards, 
is often very impressive. My guide, a boy of about fourteen 
years old, pointed this out to me in several places." 

Vardo. See Wardhouse. 
Variana. Animadv. (3. 37) 3. 213. 

A part of the country of Moronia, in Mundiis Alter et Idem 
(3. 3), the Utopia of Bishop Hall. 

Vatican. Epist. Fam. (9) 7. 382. (See also Rome.) 

The palace of the Pope on the Vatican Hill in Rome. Milton 
visited the Library, housed in the Belvedere. Perhaps some of 
the Greek manuscripts he saw were those presented by Urban 
VIII in 1624. 

Vectis. See Wight. 

Venice (Veneta Res Publica, Venetiae). Rupt. Com. 5. 402, 436, 

440; 2 Defens. 6. 289; Pro Se Defens. 6. 383; Lit. Senat. 

(22) 7. 207; (36) 7. 224; Lit. Oliv. (17) 7. 258, 259; (60) 7. 310. 

Venice, situated at the head of the Adriatic, was in the time 

of Milton a maritime power, frequently waging war with the 

Turks. These Turkish wars are prominent in the four letters 

that Milton, in his capacity as Latin secretary, wrote to the Doge 

and Senate of Venice. Just before leaving Italy Milton spent a 

month at Venice, and despatched for England the books he had 

collected in Italy. The only reference to what he saw there is 

in Pro Se Defens. 6. 383, where he tells of the beggars and venders 

of nostrums and salves on the streets. 

Verdant Isles. P. L. 8. 631. (See also Azores, Green Cape.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 311 

The Cape Verde Islands, west of Cape Verde, on the west 
coast of Africa. They were often attacked by the EngHsh in the 
latter part of the sixteenth century. (Hak. 3. 599.) 

Vergateria. Moscovia (2) 8. 483. 

Verkhotowrie, a city of eastern Russia on the River Toura, a 
tributary of the Tobol. Vergateria "is the first Towne of the 
Countrey of Siberia, and was begun to be builded with some other 
Townes within these one and twenty yeeres." (Pilgrimes 3.515.) 

Vergivium Salum. See Irish Seas. 
Verkhotowrie. See Vergateria. 

Vermandois (Vermanduiorum Agrum). Rami Vita 7. 178; 

Commonplace 183. 

A province of old France, to-day divided between the depart- 
ments of Aisne, Somme, and Oise. 

Verona. 2 Defens 6. 289. 

A city of northern Italy, on the River Adige, at the foothills 
of the mountains of the Tyrol. When Milton passed through 
the city in 1638, on his way to Switzerland, it was included in 
the territories of Venice. 

Verulam (Saint Albanes) . Tenure 4. 459 ; Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 42, 60, 

84; (3) 5. 105; Commonplace 179. 

St. Albans is a city of Hertfordshire, twenty miles from 
London, very near the site of the Roman city of Verulamium. 
See Drayton, Polyolhion 16, and Spenser, The Ruines of Time. 

Vienna (Vienne). Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 91; 1 Defens. (4) 6. 85; 

Commonplace 109. 

A city of France on the Rhone. 
Vigornium. See Worcester. 
Villafranca. Sixteen Let. 10. 

A French port of the Gulf of Nice. In Milton's time it was 
included in the territories of the dukes of Savoy. 

Vincennae. Rami Vita 7. 183 (twice). 

Vincennes, a town of France about two miles east of Paris. 
Viraginia. Apology (Introd.) 3. 267; (6) 3. 292. 

An imaginary region mentioned by Bishop Hall in Mundus 
Alter et Idem, Book 2. 
21 



312 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Virginia. Animadv. (3. 37) 3. 213; Contra Hisp. 7. 356. 

A part of North America, including the present state of Vir- 
ginia, but of much greater extent. Blaeu defines it as the country 
between the parallels of thirty-six and forty-four degrees of 
north latitude, bounded on the east by the ocean and New- 
Netherlands, on the south by Florida, on the north by New 
France, on the west by regions unknown. (P. 39.) Milton 
wrote his Animadv. in 1641, thirty-four years after the settlement 
of Jamestown. Hakluyt describes at length the English voyages 
to Virginia. 

Vistula. See Wixel. 

Vladimir. See Wolodimiria. 

Vobsco. See Plesco. 

Volga (Edel, Tolga). Moscovia (1) 8. 471, 474, 475 (thrice), 476. 

(See also Astracan, Nagay.) 

A river of Russia, flowing into the Caspian Sea. Milton 
refers in a note to the following passage : "At Yeraslave we passed 
the river of Volga, more than a mile over. This river taketh his 
beginning at Beal Ozera, and descendeth into Mare Caspium, 
portable thorow of very great vessels with flat bottomes, which 
farre passe any that our countrey useth." (Hak. 1. 377.) "To 
the Caspian sea are 2700 versts from Yeraslave." (Hak. 1. 364.) 
Anthony Jenkinson gives a narrative, from which Milton drew 
largely, of his voyage down the Volga to the Caspian. He thus 
describes his entrance into the Sea: "The same day departed I, 
with the said two Johnsons having the whole charge of the 
Navigation downe the sayd river Volga, being very crooked, 
and full of flats toward the mouth thereof. We entred into the 
Caspian sea the tenth day of August at the Easterly side of the 
sayd river, being twenty leagues from Astracan aforesayd, in the 
latitude of fortie six degrees, twentie seven minutes. Volga hath 
seventie mouths or falls into the sea." (Hak. 1. 326.) The mis- 
print "Tolga" occurs once in the Pickering edition. 

Volhinnia. Decl. Poland 8. 466. 

Volhynia, a government of southwest Russia. 
Volhusky. Muscovia (1) 8. 476. 

Volkhof, a river flowing into Lake Ladoga. See Hak. 1. 367. 

Volhynia. See Volhinnia. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 313 

Volkhof. See Volhusky. 
Vologda. See Wologda. 

Wales (Cambria, Demetia, Deomed, Genounia, Guinethia, North 
Wales, South Wales). Eikonocl. (12) 3. 438; (27) 3. 503; (28) 
3. 521 (twice); Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 13 (twice), 19, 20; (2) 5. 73 
(thrice); (3) 5. 115, 118, 119, 132 (twice), 133; (4) 5. 169, 
171 (twice), 188; (5) 5. 205, 209, 216, 217, 219, 225, 229, 233 
(twice); (6) 5. 243, 277, 282, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288; 1 Defens. 
(8) 6. 148. 

Geoffrey of Monmouth explains the origin of the Latin name 
Cambria: "Brutus had three famous sons, whose names were 
Locrin, Albanact, and Kamber. These, after their father's death 
. . . divided the kingdom of Britain among them. . . . Kamber 
had that part which lies beyond the river Severn, now called 
Wales, but which was for a long time named Kambria." (2. 1.) 
According to Giraldus Cambrensis, Wales was anciently divided 
into three parts, Venedotia (Genounia, Guinethia) or North 
Wales, Demetia (Deomed) or South Wales, and Powys, the 
middle or eastern district. {Description of Wales, chap. 2.) 

Wallingford. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 247, 253. 
A town of Berkshire on the Thames. 

Wall of Antoninus. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 74, 75; (3) 5. 102. 

A Roman wall, still visible in places, extending from the Clyde 
to the Forth. 

Wall of Severus (Adrian). Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 73, 77, 78, 82, 89; 

(3) 5. 103, 104 (twice); (4) 5. 154, 179; (5) 5. 196. 

A Roman wall, built by Severus and repaired by Hadrian, 
extending from Newcastle on the Tyne to the Solway Firth. 
It is mentioned by Spenser {F. Q. 4. 11. 36), and described by 
Drayton (Polyolbion 29). 

Waltham. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 299. 

A town in Essex on the River Lea. 
Wanading. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 211. 

Wantage in Berkshire, as Camden says (1. 148). 
Wansborough. See Wodensbeorth. 
Wanswell. See Wodensfield. 



314 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Wantage. See Wanading. 

Wardhouse. Moscovia (5) 8. 504, 505, 508. 

Vardo, an island in the Arctic Ocean off the north coast of 
Norway. Jenkinson writes: "This Wardhouse is a Castle stand- 
ing in an Island 2 miles from the maine of Finland, subject to 
the king of Denmarke, and the Eastermost land that he hath. 
. . . The inhabitants . . . live onely by fishing, and make much 
stocke-fish, which they dry with frost: their most feeding is 
fish; bread and drink they have none, but such as is brought 
them from other places. They have small store of cattell which 
are also fed with fish." (Hak. 1. 311.) Willoughby speaks of 
it as "the strongest holde in Finmarke, and much resorted to by 
report." (Hak. 1. 235.) 

Warewell. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 281. 

A monastery in Hampshire. 
Warham (Werham). Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 204; (6) 5. 239. 

In Dorsetshire, "near the mouth of the Frome ... is Ware- 
ham, ... a town well defended on all sides (except the west) 
by the rivers Trent and Frome and the sea." (Camden 1. 45.) 

Warsaw. Decl. Poland 8. 459, 468 (twice). 

A city on the Vistula, formerly the capital of Poland. 
Warwickshire. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 175; (6) 5. 256. 

A county of central England, watered by the Avon. 
Warzina. See Arzina. 
Waste. See Wilderness. 
Watling Street. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 228; (6) 5. 252. 

A Roman road crossing Britain from Dover to Chester. 

Wedmore. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 206. 

A town in Somersetshire, a royal vill of King Alfred. 

Welland. See Weolud. 
Wendune. See Brunanburg. 
Weolud. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 218. 

The form used in the Chronicle for the river of Northampton- 
shire now called the Welland. Apparently Milton did not 
know the modern equivalent of the name. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 315 

Werham. See Warham. 
Wertermore. Hist. Bnt. (5) 5. 222. 

Milton takes this name from Simeon of Durham, Sect. 83. It 
has not been surely identified. 

Wessex. See West Saxons. 
Westchester. See Chester. 
Western Bay. See 1. Atlantic. 
Western Empire. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 88. 

The western part of the Roman world, i. e., western Europe 
and the western part of north Africa. 

Western Sea. See Mediterranean. 
West Kingdom. See West Saxons. 
Westmaria. Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 74. 

Westmoreland, a county of northwest England bordering on 
the Irish Sea. 

Westminster. Eikonocl. (6) 3. 376, 377; Areopag. 4. 446; Hist. 

Brit. (4) 5. 145, 172; (6) 5. 277, 291, 300; Commonplace 181. 

One of the boroughs of London, west of the city proper on the 
banks of the Thames. Camden writes: "Westminster, once 
above a mile distant, now joining to London so as to seem part 
of it, ... is a city itself, governed by its own magistrates and 
laws. It is called . . . Westminster from its westerly situation 
and minster. It is eminently distinguished by this church, the 
hall of justice and the king's palace. The church is famous for 
being the place where the kings of England are crowned and 
buried. . . . The remains of [the ancient palace] are that cham- 
ber where the kings, lords, and commons assemble in parliament, 
and the adjoining one where our ancestors used to open the 
sessions, called the painted chamber of St. Edward. . . . To 
these adjoins White Hall, where is now the Court of Requests, 
and to that the greatest of all halls, the Praetorium of all England. 
In this are held the law courts." (2. 7, 8.) The city of West- 
minster was the abode of Milton from 1649 to 1660. He lived 
there that he might be near the offices of the government in 
order to perform more easily his duties as Secretary for Foreign 
Tongues to the Council of State. For a part of this time he 
had lodgings in the palace of Whitehall. In 1652 he removed 



316 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

to a house in Petty France, Westminster, where he lived until 
the Restoration. Many of his familiar letters are dated at 
Westminster. 

Westminster Hall. Eikonocl. (4) 3. 361. 

Part of the palace of Westminster, remaining from the fire of 
1512, occupied by the courts of law. St. Stephen's, the meeting- 
place of the House of Commons in the time of Milton, was part 
of the same palace. For an account of the hall, and its history, 
see Stow's Survey 2. 113-9. 

Westmoreland. See Westmaria. 

West-Saxons (West Kingdom, West Sex). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 134; 

(4) 5. 136, 137, 161, 173, 179, 183; (5) 5. 193, 215; (6) 5. 247, 

250, 259. 

The territory of the West Saxons, having at different times 
various limits. Camden includes in "Wessex, or the West- 
Saxons" Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wilts, Hants, and 
Berks. (1. cxxx.) In using the form West-Saxons, instead of 
Wessex, Camden and Milton follow the Chronicle. 

Wey (Wye). Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 135; (5) 5. 226; (6) 5. 277. 

A river of Wales and England emptying into the Severn. 
Whaley. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 182. 

A town in Lancashire, near the River Ribble. 
Whirlpool. See Scylla. 
Whitehall. Eikonocl. (Pref.) 3. ZZZ; (4) 3. 359, 361, 364, 368 

(twice); (6) 3. 376; (9) 3. 402; (12) 3. 431. 

A royal palace in Westminster {q. v.), of which little but the 
Banqueting House now remains. In the time of Milton the 
palace was large, extending from the present Scotland Yard to 
Cannon Row. It was used during the Commonwealth by the 
officers of the government, and Milton himself lived there, in 
the end nearest Scotland Yard, from 1649 to 1652. (Masson, 
Life of Milton 4. 153.) Whitehall was the residence of Charles 
I, until he left London to begin war with Parliament. From the 
Banqueting House he was led to a scaffold outside, on which he 
was beheaded. 
Wibbandun. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 129. 

Identified by Camden with Wimbledon, Surrey, on the banks 
of the Wandle. (1. 170.) 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 317 

Wigganbeorch. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 193. 

An unidentified place. Milton takes the name from the 
Chronicle, to which he refers in a note. 

Wight (Vectis). Eikonocl. (9) 3. 406; (10) 3. 411; (15) 3. 451; 

Hist. Brit. (2) 5. 51, 83; (3) 5. 117, 126; (4) 5. 161, 164, 165; 

(5) 5. 210; (6) 5. 243, 244, 247, 249, 253, 283, 293, 295; 1 

Defens. (12) 6. 177; 2 Defens. 6. 315 (twice), 316 (thrice), 317. 

"To this county of Hants belongs an island, which stretches 
for a considerable length opposite to its south coast, called by 
the Romans . . . Vectis, . . . by us at present the isle of Wight. 
It is separated from the main land by a channel formerly called 
Solent. . . . The island is of an oval figure, 20 miles in length 
from east to west, and its greatest breadth in the middle 12 miles. 
The soil (not to mention that the sea is well supplied with fish) 
is very rich and profitable to the cultivators. . . . Through the 
middle of the island runs a long ridge of hills which yield plenteous 
pasture for sheep." (Camden 1. 123.) Carisbrooke Castle, in 
this island, was the place of imprisonment of Charles I. 

Wigingmere. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 217, 218. 

In speaking of the Wye, in Hertfordshire, Camden says: 
"Near the river is Wigmore, Saxon Wiginga-mere." (2. 443.) 

Wigmore. See Wigingmere. 

Wilderness (Desert). P. L. 11. 383; 12. 139, 216, 224; P. R. 

1. 7, 9, 156, 193, 291, 296, 331, 354, 501; 2. 109, 232, 241, 271, 

304, 307, 384, 416; 3. 23, 166; 4. 372, 395, 416, 465, 523, 543, 

600. 

The deserts of Arabia, lying to the east and south of Palestine, 
and extending to the border of Egypt, and also the Wilderness of 
Judea, west of the Dead Sea. Adrichomius puts the Temptation 
of Christ in the Desert of Quarentana, between Jerusalem and 
Jericho. (Pp. 18, 19.) Mount Quarentana was traditionally 
the mountain from which Christ saw the kingdoms of the world, 
but Milton does not follow the tradition. See Niphates. 

Wilton (Ellandune). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 186; (5) 5. 202; (6) 5. 

246; Commonplace 19. 

Milton's identification of Ellandune with Wilton, in Wiltshire, 
was probably taken from Camden 1. 89. It is usual now to 
identify it with Wroughton, Wiltshire. 



318 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Wiltshire. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 135; (4) 5. 157, 169, 183; (5) 5. 204, 
205 (twice); (6) 5. 238, 246, 250, 251, 256, 258. 
A midland county of England. 

Wimbledon. See Wibbandun. 

Wimborne. See Winburne. 

Winandermere (Wonwaldermere). Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 180. 

Camden, Milton's source for this passage, according to his note, 
writes, in describing Lancashire: "Among these hills is the largest 
lake in England, called Winander mere, . . . probably from its 
windings on a bed of almost one stone continued for near ten 
miles with crooked banks, and, according to the report of the 
inhabitants, of an immense depth." (3. 132.) 

Winburne. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 202, 214. 
Wimborne, Dorsetshire. 

Winchester (Caerguent, Wintonia). Eleg. 3, title, 14, 53; 

Pra?sul. El. 6; Reformation (2) 3, 41; Church-gov. (1. 5) 3. 

115; Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 15; (4) 5. 163; (5) 5. 191, 196 (thrice), 

198, 205, 210, 211, 220, 230, 231; (6) 5. 238, 252, 266, 269, 271, 

273, 275, 281 (twice), 284, 285. 

A city of Hampshire, in Saxon times the seat of the kings. 
Windsor. Hist. Brit. (6) 5. 289; Commonplace 183. 

A town in Berkshire, on the Thames, famous for the royal 
castle there. Though across the Thames, it is but a short dis- 
tance upstream from Milton's home at Horton; hence the castle 
is sometimes thought to be referred to in L' Allegro 77. 

Wintonia. See Winchester. 

Winwed. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 160 (twice). 

An unidentified river whose name, as Milton says, is taken 
from Bede. (3. 24.) 

Wippedsfleot. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 117. 

An unidentified place mentioned in Chronicle 465. The con- 
text shows that Milton thought it to be in Kent, near the sea. 

Wirheal. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 209. 

A part of Cheshire, in which Chester is situated. Camden 
writes: "The narrow point running from the city to the south, 
inclosed by the Dee on the one side and the Mersey on the other. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 319 

is called by us Wirral." (2. 424.) The form of the name used 
by Milton is taken from the Chronicle. He wrongly makes it a 
city near Chester, probably through a misunderstanding of 
Chronicle 894-5. 

Wirral. See Wirheal. 

Wirtemberg. Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 280. 

Wiirtemberg, a state of southern Germany, bounded on the 
south by Lake Constance. In Milton's time it was a duchy. 

Wissenburg. See Alba Julia. 
Witgeornesbrug. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 161. 

An unidentified place, mentioned, as Milton says, by William 
of Malmesbury 1. 19. 

Witham. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 216. 

A town in Essex, on the Blackwater. 

Withgarburgh. Hist. Brit. (3) 5. 127. 

According to Camden this place was named from the Saxon 
Whitgar, "and now by contraction Caresbrook" (1. 124), that 
is, Carisbrooke, in the Isle of Wight. 

Wittenberg. Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 280. 
A town of Saxony, on the Elbe. 

Wixel. Moscovia (4) 8. 488. 

The Vistula, a river rising in Silesia and flowing northward into 
the Baltic. 

Wladyslawow. See Uladislau. 

Wodensbeorth (Wodens Mount, Wodnesburg). Hist. Brit. (3) 

5. 135; (4) 5. 137, 169. 

Wansborough, Wiltshire. The form Wodens Mount is from 
Florence of Worcester. 

Wodensfeild. Hist. Brit. (5) 5. 215. 

Wanswell in Berkeley, Gloucestershire. 
Wodnesburg. See Wodensbeorth. 
Wolodimiria. Moscovia (4) 8. 491. 

Vladimir, a former dukedom of central Russia. 

Wologda (Vologda). Moscovia (1) 8. 474 (twice); (5) 8. 508, 
511. 



320 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

A city of north Russia, on the Suchona or Vologda, a tributary 
of the Dwina. Jenkinson writes: "Vologhda ... is a great 
citie and the river passe th through the midst of the same. The 
houses are builded with wood of Firre trees, joyned one with 
another, and round without: the houses are foure square without 
any iron or stone work, covered with birch barkes, and wood 
over the same. Their Churches are all of wood, two for every 
parish, one to be heated for Winter, and the other for Summer. 
On the toppes of their houses they laye much earth, for feare of 
burning: for they are sore plagued with fire. This Vologhda is 
in 59 degrees, eleven minutes, and is from Colmogro 1000 
versts." (Hak. 1. 312.) 

Wonwaldermere. See Winandermere. 

Worcestershire. Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 142. 

A midland county of England, in the basin of the Severn. 

Worster (Vigornium). Cromwell 9; Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 145, 172; 

(6) 5. 248, 272 (twice), 276, 277 (thrice), 299; 2 Defens. 6. 320. 

Worcester, a town of Worcestershire, on the River Severn, 
known for an ancient monastery and cathedral. Here, on Sep- 
tember 3, 1651, the forces of Charles H were totally defeated by 
Cromwell. See Carlyle's Cromwell, Letters 182, 183. 

Wiirtemburg. See Wirtemberg. 

Wye. See Wey. 

Wyg. See Owiga. 

Xanthus. Logic (2. 6) 7. 126; (2. 13) 7. 159 (twice). 

An alternative name for the Scamander, a river of the Troad, 
rising in Mount Ida, flowing past Troy, and uniting with the 
Simois. Milton quotes from Ovid, Heroides 5. 29-30. 

Yara. Moscovia (3) 8. 487. 

An unidentified city of China, of which the Cossack travelers 
whom Milton commends in the Preface of Moscovia write: 
"This Citie is large, built of stone, and the circuit of it is two 
dayes travell, with many Towres, and foure Gates to come in it; 
the Markets in the Citie are well and richly accommodated, with 
Jewels, Merchandizes, Grocerie, or Spices, the Citie well in- 



A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 321 

habited, having no place void or waste in it. The houses and 
shops are built with stone, with streets betweene; . . . their 
Markets have a very odoriferous smell with Spices." {Pil- 
grimes 3. 800.) 

Yenisei. See Jenissey. 

Yeraslave. Moscovia (1) 8. 474 (twice); (5) 8. 511. 

Jarosslawl, a city of central Russia. Chancellor writes as 
follows, in a passage to which Milton refers in a note: "Yeraslave 
also is a Towne of some good fame, for the commodities of hides, 
tallow, and corne, which it yeelds in great abundance. Cakes of 
waxe are there also to be solde, although other places have greater 
store: this Yeraslave is distant from Mosco about two hundred 
miles: and betwixt them are many populous villages. Their 
fields yeeld such store of corne that in convaying it towards 
Mosco, sometimes in a forenoone a man shall see seven hundred 
or eight hundred sleds, going and comming, laden with corne 
and salt fish. The people come a thousand miles to Mosco to 
buy that corn." (Hak. 1. 252.) 

York (Caerebranc, Eboracum). Eikonocl. (9) 3. 398; (10) 3. 412 
(twice); Hist. Brit. (1) 5. 14, 25; (2) 5. 44, 79, 84; (4) 5. 152, 
153, 173, 180 (twice), 182, 188; (5) 5. 198, 199 (thrice), 221, 
227, 228, 230; (6) 5. 271, 285, 287, 288, 295 (4 times), 299, 300; 
2 Defens. 6. 315. 

The chief city of Yorkshire, called Eboracum by the Romans. 
Camden writes: "This city, the second in England, the finest in 
this country, is a singular defence and ornament of the whole 
North. Pleasant, large, strong, embellished with handsome 
private as well as pubhc buildings, wealthy, populous, and the 
see of an archbishop. The lire, now called Ouse, gliding gently 
from the north to the south through the city . . . divides it 
into two cities." (3. 9.) 

Yorkshire. Eikonocl. (8) 3. 393; (10) 3. 411; Hist. Brit. (4) 5. 
148, 160, 177; (6) 5. 242, 281. 
A county of northern England, the largest in the country. 

Youga. Moscovia (3) 8. 487. 

An unidentified river at the city of Pekin or Cambalu (g. v.). 
Ypres. See Ipres. 



322 A GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MILTON 

Yvorie. See Aquaria. 

Zeeland. See Zelandia. 
Zeinam. See Seinam. 

Zelandia. Lit. Oliv. (27). 7. 270 (twice). 

Zeeland, the most southeastern province of the Kingdom of 
the Netherlands. 

Zergolta (Surgoot). Moscovia (2) 8. 483; (3) 8. 485. 

Surgut, in western Siberia, on the River Ob. Milton took his 
information from Pilgrimes 3. 552, 526. 

Zion. See Sion. 

Zone, The Frozen (Antarctic). P. L. 9. 79; Apology (6) 3. 293. 
The South Frigid Zone. In Milton's day it was very little 
known. Maps represented a huge Antarctic continent, called 
Terra Australis Incognita. In it Bishop Hall put his Utopia, 
the Mundiis Alter et Idem. 

Zora. Samson 181. 

Zorah, the home of Samson, a town of Palestine, on the north- 
ern side of the Valley of Sorek. In Joshua 15. 33 it is said to 
be "in the valley," and Fuller puts it near the brook of Eschol 
(Numbers 13. 23-4) famous for its fruits. (P. 198.) This per- 
haps explains Milton's word "fruitful." 

Zuric (Tygurus). Tetrach. (Canon) 4. 279; Lit. Oliv. (19) 7. 
260. 
Zurich, the capital of the canton of Zurich, Switzerland. 



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